Perhaps of more significance is the fact that consumer sales were down even more with 36 175 units, a decline of 4 433 units or 10.9 percent compared to the 40 608 new cars sold in October last year. That means that fleet sales and government purchases showed less of a decline than private, dealer-bought vehicles. 

 The light commercial segment was less affected with 15 171 vehicles, reflectinga decline of 646units or 4.1 percent compared to the 15 817 vehicles sold during the same month last year. 

 The medium and heavy truck segments are doing quite a bit better than the passenger segment. Medium commercial vehicle sales were recorded at 1 064 units, an improvement of 107 vehicles or a gain of 11.2 percent. The heavy commercial vehicle sales stood at 1 834 vehicles, a decline of 119 units or 6.1 percent. 

 Naamsa anticipate that domestic new car and aggregate commercial vehicle sales would remain under pressure into 2016.  In contrast, automotive industry vehicle production remained on a strong footing with higher new vehicle export sales continuing to support the industry’s output, thereby contributing positively to South Africa’s balance of payments. 

Passenger and light commercial vehicle sales highlights for October 2015: