Cape Times E-dition

Unrest and the Transnet cyberattack cause vehicle export sales to plunge in July

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za

VEHICLE export sales plunged 33.1 percent, while the motor industry lost well over R3 billion because of the damage to assets and property, lost sales orders, and the cancellation of new developments, National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa chief executive Mike Mabasa said yesterday.

July export sales recorded a huge decline of 8 381 units to 16 931 units, compared to the 25 312 vehicles exported in July last year, vehicle sales statistics released yesterday showed.

Domestic vehicle sales in July, at 32 949 units, reflected a modest 1.7 percent increase from 32 405 sold in July last year.

July’s new vehicle sales reflected economic disruptions caused by the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, the cyberattack on Transnet’s operations, which impacted negatively on vehicle export and import operations, as well as the adjusted alert level 4 lockdown restrictions, which lasted for more than five weeks.

These factors had curtailed the good progress made in the automotive industry’s rebound during the first six months of the year, said Mabasa.

Businesses and consumers already had to brace themselves for significant price hikes in key living costs, such as electricity, fuel and municipal rates and taxes, during July, he said.

Mabasa said that, encouragingly, for the year-to-date, vehicle exports were still 47.3 percent ahead of the same period last year.

He said that with calm returning to KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, lockdown restrictions easing and the accelerated rollout of vaccinations, the gradual recovery in the new vehicle market was anticipated to continue for the remainder of the year.

The civil unrest and the Transnet cyberattack had caused logistical challenges on the N3 and at all major ports, and vehicle exports and imports, as well as production, could take some time to normalise, Mabasa said.

“It is always unfortunate that these mindless actions, which lasted only a few days, could potentially affect the image of an industry as a reliable manufacturer and supplier of quality vehicles and automotive components to world markets, which took several decades to establish,” he said.

Overall, out of the total reported industry sales of 32 949 vehicles, an estimated 28 326 units, or 86 percent, represented dealer sales, an estimated 9.2 percent represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 2.7 percent to industry corporate fleets, and 2.1 percent sales to the government.

BR

en-za

2021-08-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://capetimes.pressreader.com/article/281870121483828

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