Auto Newsletter 2022

There’s a lot happening in our motor vehicle market at the moment, as you can see from our packed April edition of Auto News.

In our lead story New vehicle sales inch upwards, naamsa reports that new vehicle sales are up by 1.7% for Q1-2023 compared to the same period in 2022. However, sales in March were marginally down by 0.7% on the same period last year – but were 11% up on February 2023.

Light Commercial Vehicle sales drive post-Covid recovery

The improved new vehicle sales are mirrored by confirmed finance deals through our Signio platform. In 2019 the monthly average of financed sales was around 24 800 deals, dropping to 17 200 in 2020, but as Signio volumes recovering to pre-Covid levels points out, by the end of 2022 they had recovered to 22 000 deals/month, 30% new and 70% used.

Affordability drives Light Vehicle sales rankings

Premium brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz have both exited the Top 10 in recent years – BMW in 2019 and Mercedes-Benz in 2021 – and in Affordability drives Light Vehicle sales rankings we see just how the market is changing, with high-volume marques Suzuki now in third position – just four years after entering the Top 10.

The future value of a vehicle means different things to different people

Once a vehicle has been purchased, understanding its future value is important to both businesses and consumers. In The future value of a vehicle means different things to different people we unpack what we refer to as a vehicle’s residual value and our robust method of forecasting which provides insight into the future value of a new or used vehicle.

SAMBRA awards

In SAMBRA awards you can read about ABSA scooping top honours for the first time in the prestigious SA Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), Insurer of the Year award, followed closely by Bryte Insurance and OUTsurance who won silver awards, and Discovery walked away with bronze.

Coaxle acquires interest in IX Online

Our parent company Coaxle has acquired a 50% interest in iX Online (iXO), a specialist provider of digital solutions, primarily to the retail automotive industry. Coaxle acquires interest in IX Online explains how the acquisition will strengthen the synergies between iXO and Lightstone – and provide additional benefits to all our Clients.

Star Reacher F&I Awards update

Finally, you can find out who the Q4 winners were in Star Reacher – and details of the next competition.