The trend continues. New vehicle sales in South Africa dropped further in October, falling by more than 30% despite the month being a seasonally strong month. Sales fell across the board by 30.1%, or 16 426 units, to 54 569 units compared with the same month last year. Sales for the first ten months of the year are 19% lower than the same time last year. The main reasons for the continual decline in car sales is that the global economic crisis is hitting many consumers hard, even in South Africa. There is not a lot of confidence in the market at this moment in time and most would rather spend their money on other things than buy a new car. The prices of new cars are also increasing which is forcing consumers to put plans of purchasing a new car on hold.

Thoughts have to go out to the car dealerships all over the country. Just the other day I was driving down in Wynberg in Cape Town and saw a string of about 6 dealerships in a row all with brand new cars in the showrooms. There was no sign of any activity in the showrooms. A clear sign that not much business is taking place. For every day the car is sitting on the shop floor it means that no money is coming into the dealership but overheads still need to be paid.

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