Trade sales of motorcycles increased by 16.6% in December 2022, compared to the same month the previous year, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Thursday.
This is after motorcycle trade sales rose 14.4% year-on-year in November.
The largest annual growth in December was recorded in new vehicle sales, up 30.7%,
StatsSA said. This was followed by fuel sales, which increased by 22.5%, while workshop income increased by 17.7%.
The Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) said that the new vehicle market registered 12 consecutive months of year-on-year growth during December 2022, with the industry aggregate of new vehicles at 41 783 units recording an increase of 16.2% compared to the same month. the previous year.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy increased both petrol prices by 59 cents per liter for December, with 95 liters of unleaded petrol priced at R22.81 in coastal areas and R23.46 in inland areas.
For the whole of 2022, motor trade sales increased by 18.8% compared to 2021, with the main contributors being fuel sales (up 30.3%), new vehicle sales (19.6% higher) and used vehicle sales (up 12.1%).
The vehicle market is likely to remain relatively healthy in the first half of 2023 as pent-up demand is slowly being met and dealers are working off long waiting lists, economists at Nedbank said.
“The continued recovery in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries should continue to support the rental market. However, domestic sales will slow as the year progresses, hurt by sticky inflation and rapid interest rate increases,” he said in a note.
“On the supply side, regular and disruptive power outages and the continued risk of global supply chain disruptions will damage vehicle production and sales.”
Naamsa said it expects single-digit growth in new vehicle sales for 2023, given the strong correlation between new vehicle sales and GDP growth. .