The relentless increases to interest rates, rising fuel prices, and a depreciating currency were some of the major headwinds facing the South African new vehicle market during May. The economic conditions facing consumers continue to place immense pressure on household budgets and more of their impacts are yet to be felt as their ripple effect impacts other areas of the value chain.
Despite these conditions, consumer behaviour doesn’t appear impacted by these economic indicators. “Although this May presented one more selling day year-on-year, market demand as measured by WesBank’s applications for finance increased substantially compared to the same time last year,” says Lebogang Gaoaketse, Head of Marketing and Communications at WesBank. “In fact, applications for new vehicle finance displayed double-digit growth and increased twice as much as for used vehicles.”
WesBank cautioned that the conversion of these applications into actual deals isn’t…
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