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South Africans were faced with fuel price hikes and another increase in interest rates as they started the new year, but that didn’t deter them from buying new vehicles during January.

According to naamsa, South Africa’s Automotive Business Council, new vehicle sales in January 2022 increased 19.5% to 41 382 units compared to the start of 2021, creating a solid start to the year and the market’s continued recovery.

The year kicked off at similar levels to the momentum created during the second half of 2021. While some purchase decisions may have been deferred out of December into the new year, January sales provide a solid start to the year, raising the hopes of manufacturers and dealers for ongoing market improvement.

While year-on-year comparisons remain challenging to interpret because of differing pandemic circumstances, at WesBank, we remain optimistic for a continued slow recovery of the market during 2022.

Lebogang Gaoaketse is the head of Marketing and Communications at WesBank.

Article sourced from: https://www.news24.com/wheels/news/sa_vehicle_sales/sa-car-sales-january-provides-a-strong-launch-pad-for-the-rest-of-2022-20220202-2