October 2021

Fresh challenges ahead for vehicle market

South Africa’s vehicle market continues to perform unevenly, reflecting the impact the hard lockdowns are having on the economy. New vehicle sales in September were 16% up on September last year, but Light Vehicle sales being down on 2020, and the global semi-conductor shortage is just starting to make itself felt on sales in SA.

The uneven performance is also evident in both Lightstone’s LIVE scans and Signio applications to the end of September, as our stories in this newsletter demonstrate.

While the tough conditions are affecting the sale of new vehicles, used vehicles are the beneficiaries – as our second story points out, our Lightstone Used Vehicle Value Retention Index reached an all-time high for one-year-old vehicles in October this year.

And there’s a lot more in this issue.  Happy reading! 

New vehicle sale recovery continues
New vehicle sales in September 2021 were 16% up on September 2020, according to naamsa, and 3.9% up on August 2021 as the market continues to recover from Lockdown Alert Level 4 and July’s civil unrest. Continue reading

Changing patterns in bodyshape selection by new vehicle buyers
There has been a shift in vehicle bodyshape preferences over the past decade, with Crossover / SUV bodyshape purchases more than doubling to 31% in 2021, making it the best-selling bodyshape category this year. Continue reading

Used vehicles holding their value, for longer
The value retention rate for one and four-year-old used passenger vehicles has been on an upward trajectory since 2012. Our Used Vehicle Value Retention Index reached an all-time high for one-year-old vehicles in October. Continue reading

Total scans in 2021, 60% up on 2020
Scans on LIVE exceeded pre-Covid-19 levels in May of this year and although growth slowed in July as the country entered Level 4 Lockdown, activity swiftly moved to the same growth levels seen in March and April. Continue reading

Connecting with auto industry professionals
Lightstone Auto Connect is a series of industry-led, information-driven webinars for F&I Managers and auto industry professionals.  We wrap up our series for 2021 with our third webinar.  If you weren’t able to attend, get the lowdown here.

Quarterly winners shine bright
The Lightstone Star Reacher F&I Awards is a first of its kind incentive programme. We recently announced our second quarter winners.  To find out who the winners are and more about the incentive programme. Continue reading

POPIA is going to impact the way the automotive industry does business in many ways. Follow our POPIA series here.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, we hope you found it valuable. 
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