“As we approach the end of 2025, the motor industry has once again shown that making sales forecasts is becoming more of an art than science. There are very few industry commentators who could have predicted the vehicle sales boom that we’ve seen in the second half of the year,” said Brandon Cohen, Chairperson of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), commenting on the retail sales for November.
Aggregate industry sales of 54 896 units in November were 12.5% higher than in November 2024, while the year-to-date total of 547 966 units is already a remarkable 15.4% ahead of the figure recorded in the first 11 months of last year.
An estimated 43 702 vehicles, representing 79.6% of the market, were sold through dealer retail sales channels last month. Of the remaining volume, 16.3% went to the rental industry, 2.4% to government and 1.7% to corporate fleets.
An analysis of the different market sectors indicates that passenger car sales increased by 11% year on year. The light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment performed even more strongly, recording a 20.5% rise compared to the previous year.
However, sales remain sluggish in the medium and heavy truck segments, with medium trucks down 0.4% and heavy trucks 1.3% lower than in November 2024.
“The aggressive marketing of a wide range of affordable models from China and India is playing a major role in boosting retail sales. At the same time, the rental industry is a significant contributor, accounting for 16.3% of the overall market and as much as 21.2% of the new passenger car market, as operators optimistically fleet up ahead of the festive season, buoyed by an expected influx of international tourists.
“Consumer confidence has also been supported by the recent successful staging of the global G20 Conference, lower fuel prices, and positive signals from the fiscus regarding South Africa’s improving creditworthiness, tight monetary controls and further reductions in interest rates. This has resulted in a noticeable improvement in finance approvals as affordability strengthens and credit conditions become more favourable.
“The ongoing buoyancy in the country’s economic environment, together with attractive incentives to purchase new vehicles before year-end, is expected to hopefully bring another strong month of sales in December and one of the highest annual totals of the past decade,” concluded Cohen.