The country’s carmakers are expecting sales to continue surging in May and the ensuing months, culminating in another record year for new sales.

From the perspective of sales reported to Naamsa, 30 845 new passenger cars were sold in April, 14% higher than April last year.

This brought the year’s sales thus far to 19% higher than the January- to-April period last year.

Year-to-date commercial vehicle sales have increased 20% compared with the same period last year.

Car manufacturers said, however, that the predicted effect of the April holidays had taken its toll on the new vehicle market with a 19% reduction in market size for the month.

Although April had five fewer trading days than the previous month, the effect was compounded as most South Africans took bridging days to maximise their Easter break.

Daily sales were, in fact, higher in April than March so it would be premature to view this reduction as a slowing down in market buoyancy, carmakers said.

“The effect of the public holidays on April’s sales performance is certainly evident,” explained Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa national sales manager Jacques Brent.

“Three working days were lost in April due to two long weekends falling in the same month."

“We expect that the positive sales trend will resume next month.”

“We expect the market in May to continue to exhibit the growth displayed so far this year of some 15% – 20% when compared with the same period in 2005,” said General Motors SA sales and marketing director Malcolm Gauld.

GMSA recorded a market-leading performance of 26,7% in March in the light commercial vehicle segment, Gauld said.

General Motors’ sales of 5 786 units resulted in a third place in the manufacturers rankings attributable mainly to a solid showing in the commercial arena.

“GMSA May sales will be bolstered with the imminent introduction of our much anticipated Opel Astra GTC and Opel Zafira model ranges,” Gauld said.

“While technical analysis of the market’s performance continues to indicate some consolidation in the rate of cyclical annual growth, the demand side of the economy continues to perform strongly,” noted Volkswagen of SA sales and marketing director Mike Glendinning.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the new car market once again looks set to achieve another all-time record year,” he said.

He said Volkswagen had sold 7 522 passenger cars during April, bringing its year-to-date sales to 18% up on the same period last year.

“The Volkswagen brand has shown a marked passenger sales improvement of 20% during the first four months of 2006 in comparison to the first four months of last year.

“Furthermore, the brand has grown its April 2006 share by 15% in contrast to sales in April 2005,” Glendinning said.