JOHANNESBURG - The latest new vehicle sales data is showing that consumers held back on splurging on new cars in July.
They instead opted to rent cars.
The July 2023 new passenger car market sold nearly 28,000 vehicles.
That’s just under 3,000 less vehicles than were sold in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, sales to the rental car industry jumped by just over 14-percent in the period.
Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini-buses increased 32.6-percent, compared with July last year.
Also encouraging, heavy trucks and buses were in demand as business picks up in some sectors.
The export of new vehicles also improved substantially in July.
This is a good indicator that demand in key global markets is improving.