Nearly all new vehicle sales for every segment in South America deteriorated sharply during April 2017, with the exception of medium commercial vehicles.

New vehicle sales registered double digit declines, according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini buses were 10,592 units during April 2017, a drop of 13.3% compared to the 12,217 light commercial vehicles sold in April 2016.

There were 34,956 new vehicles sold in April 2017, lower than 40,348 from the same time last year.

Lower sales could be attributed to public holidays during the month, reports NAAMSA. The public holidays negatively affected new vehicle exports which also reflected a sharp year-on-year decline, according to the organization.

Out of the total reported Industry sales in April 2017, 90.1% represented dealer sales, 4.3% represented sales to the vehicle rental Industry, 3.1% represented industry corporate fleets and 2.5% represented government.