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In today's blog we take a look at the latest numbers from South Africa's motor trade sales, and find that South Africans spend almost as much on fuel for their cars as they spend on new cars each month. And soon fuel will probably surpass spending on new vehicles as increased taxes on fuel and a weak exchange rate is set to make petrol in South Africa the most expensive it has ever been.
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The average monthly spending per year on various motor trade sector categories
So just how much do South Africans spend per month on motor trade related items such as fuel, accessories for the vehicles, new vehicles, used vehicles and spending out garage forecourt shops such as Engen/Woolies Foods or BP and Pick n Pay stores? Well the bar chart below shows the average monthly spending on all of these categories per year.
As the bar chart above shows the biggest spending items in the recent past in the motor trade sector has been fuel sales and new vehicle sales. While there have been a few years in which the average monthly spending in South Africa on fuel far surpassed that of new vehicle sales, the gap has narrowed substantially since 2015, when strong declines in fuel prices coincided with better economic fortunes in South Africa, saw spending on fuel decline due to lower fuel prices and new vehicle spending going up, as more people started buying new vehicles.
But based on on the data for 2018 thus far, it looks like spending on fuel will be greater than spending on new vehicles in 2018.
But based on on the data for 2018 thus far, it looks like spending on fuel will be greater than spending on new vehicles in 2018.
So just how much are South Africans spending per month on the various motor trade sector categories? The numbers below shows the average monthly spending in 2018 on the various categories.
With the average monthly spending in South Africa on fuel, it implies in a year South Africans (be it private persons, companies) spends R172billion on fuel each year. That is a massive amount of money.
Surprising is the fact that the spending on accessories for vehicles amounts to close to R10billion a month. Surely if times were tough South Africans would look to cut back on this type of expenditure, or is it the "keeping up with the Jones" syndrome, that makes South Africans want the extra stuff on their vehicles because it's nice to have these things, and not because its essential?
And one might not think that quickly popping into the shop at the garage forecourt for a pie and coke amounts to a lot of money, but on average South Africans spend R1.8billion a month at these shops. That amounts to around R21.6billion a year, which while relatively small compared to some of the other categories in this sector, is still a massive amount of money. It works out to R31 spent per South African per month at these convenience stores.
- Fuel: R14.4billion
- New Vehicles: R13.9billion
- Used Vehicles: R9.7billion
- Accessories: R9.3billion
- Workshops: R3billion
- Convenience stores: R1.8billion
With the average monthly spending in South Africa on fuel, it implies in a year South Africans (be it private persons, companies) spends R172billion on fuel each year. That is a massive amount of money.
Surprising is the fact that the spending on accessories for vehicles amounts to close to R10billion a month. Surely if times were tough South Africans would look to cut back on this type of expenditure, or is it the "keeping up with the Jones" syndrome, that makes South Africans want the extra stuff on their vehicles because it's nice to have these things, and not because its essential?
And one might not think that quickly popping into the shop at the garage forecourt for a pie and coke amounts to a lot of money, but on average South Africans spend R1.8billion a month at these shops. That amounts to around R21.6billion a year, which while relatively small compared to some of the other categories in this sector, is still a massive amount of money. It works out to R31 spent per South African per month at these convenience stores.
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