VW Expects South African Sales to Increase

The German carmaker announced it expects 2010 sales in South Africa to grow twice as fast as the market. The company explained its revised forecasts are based on the strength of Volkswagen’s new model lineup, on the brand’s sustained market share growth and the FIFA World Cup.

The aforementioned country is Africa’s largest economy and car demand has risen based on economic growth (from an annual average of 3.2 percent in the last quarter of 2009 to an average of 4.6 percent for the first quarter of 2010) thanks to mining and manufacturing income.

VW's managing director in South Africa, David Powels said VW expects sales to rise 42 percent in South Africa, from 52,800 vehicles in 2009 to 75,000 this year. The overall car market in South Africa is expected to rise 20 percent in 2010 to 310,000 vehicles, a bit more than VW’s previous forecast of 290,000.

“The passenger car market has clearly jumped into gear,” Powels said. “We're more optimistic again and are building up our product portfolio.”

  Volkswagen’s number one rival in South Africa is Japanese carmaker Toyota, from which it took the lead last year.

“VW and Toyota have been vying for leadership in South Africa for years,” Powels said according to Automotive News. “We're confident that we have the right products to keep the edge.”

For the first four months Volkswagen raised its South African market share by 0.9 percent to 17.3 percent, while Toyota fell 3.5 percent to 15.2 percent, VW spokesman Carsten Krebs revealed for Automotive News.

VW is also planning a special marketing approach for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but declined to offer further details at this point.