According to senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), Leon Theron, “The impact of Covid-19 and the lockdown have left Toyota approximately 24% short of where we would have like to be on our annual sales plan.

This has mainly been driven by the intermission in car rental space, compounded by restricted trade during lockdown and dwindling consumer confidence.

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“Although we expected challenges in our first month out of full lockdown, we can see that the proactive preparation by our dealerships has given us the edge in achieving more than we initially expected. We do however remain cautiously optimistic as to what July, and the rest of the year, may offer the industry as the situation remains capricious due to the increase in Covid-19 cases across the country”.

June sales was down 30,7% compared with 45 953 vehicles that were sold in June 2019.

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) said that of the domestic sales in June, 91,3% represented dealer sales, 4,6% to government, 3,7% to corporate fleets and some 0,4% went to vehicle rental companies.

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TSAM’s total of 8 442 units for June represents a 26,5% market share.

“The market has experienced a severe decline and we expect large amount of sales stimulus to create some economic activity in the sector. As TSAM, we have also adjusted our sales targets to suit this outlook, trusting in our diverse product line-up as well as the incredibly strong dealer network that has always been the cornerstone of our business.
“While the first half of the year reflects trying times for local automotive sales, we are continuously encouraged by the work ethic of Toyota dealers who have always shown great courage in the face adversity,” concluded Theron.
Motorpress