{"id":859270,"date":"2026-05-06T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=859270"},"modified":"2026-05-05T15:26:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:26:06","slug":"best-news-in-13-years-for-important-sector-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/859270\/best-news-in-13-years-for-important-sector-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Best news in 13 years for important sector in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa’s new vehicle market achieved its strongest performance in April in 13 years, with domestic sales increasing by 13% year-on-year to reach 47,979 units. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This outcome confirms that underlying demand remains robust despite rising fuel costs, inflation risks, and a more cautious outlook on interest rates, which are starting to affect affordability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Naamsa, the Automotive Business Council, April sales rose from 42,467 units in April 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dealer activity remained the backbone of the market, accounting for 91.1% of total sales. This was followed by rental sales at 5.1%, corporate fleet sales at 2.2%, and government sales at 1.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an encouraging result, particularly as the market has not reached this level in April since 2013,\u201d  said WesBank Senior Economist Thanda Sithole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe growth was also broad-based, with passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and the heavier segments all posting gains,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis suggests the recovery has some depth, although affordability remains a key constraint for many consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passenger car sales increased by 14.3%, reaching 34,414 units, while sales of light commercial vehicles rose by 9.7%, totalling 10,966 units. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sales of medium commercial vehicles grew by 10.5% to 687 units, while heavy trucks and buses saw a 9.9% increase, totalling 1,912 units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exports showed a decline, dropping by 4.0% to 30,939 units. This decrease was partly attributed to a significant 42.9% drop in light commercial vehicle exports, linked to model changes at a major exporter rather than a structural shift in demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The domestic sales results come amid changing economic conditions. Inflation rose to 3.1% in March, up from 3% in February. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this figure was recorded before the full impact of sharp fuel price increases was felt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WesBank said the next Consumer Price Index (CPI) release, scheduled for May 20, should more accurately reflect these fuel effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concern over phasing out of fuel levy relief<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) maintained the repo rate at 6.75% in March but warned that increasing energy prices could push inflation to around 4% in the second quarter, with fuel inflation exceeding 18%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This situation has delayed expectations of further rate cuts, leaving vehicle buyers in a less supportive finance environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WesBank said it anticipates the SARB will implement a 25 basis points hike this month (an interim increase) to 7.00%, amid revised upward inflation forecasts, though it expects the policy rate to ease to 6.25% by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sithole said that the government’s temporary relief on fuel levies provides some short-term support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fuel levy relief is welcome, particularly for households and commercial operators, but it does not remove the underlying pressure,\u201d said Sithole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce the relief is phased out, the full impact of higher fuel prices will be felt more directly by motorists, transport operators and the broader supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The R3 per litre petrol levy reduction has been extended until June 2, while diesel relief will increase to R3.93 per litre for May, effectively reducing the diesel levy to zero. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relief will be halved in June and will revert to statutory levels on July 1. WesBank said that affordability remains the primary risk to ongoing recovery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The finance provider said that proposed changes to import duties on vehicles from specific markets could exert further pressure on entry-level pricing, especially when first-time buyers and budget-conscious customers are already facing challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa’s new vehicle market achieved its strongest performance in April in 13 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":859328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[10421,6619],"class_list":["post-859270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-naamsa","tag-wesbank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859270"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":859459,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859270\/revisions\/859459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}