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South Africa Slips into Recession
South Africa’s gross domestic product shrank by 0.7% in January-March, dragging Africa’s third-largest economy into its first recession since 2009.
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South Africa’s gross domestic product shrank by 0.7% in January-March, dragging Africa’s third-largest economy into its first recession since 2009.
The country—Africa’s leader in auto production since the 1950s—saw its GDP contract by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2016. Economists blame the two-quarter downturn on slumping manufacturing and trade.
South Africa is home to vehicle manufacturing facilities operated by BMW, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. In January the National Assn. of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa predicted car sales in the country would grow about 3% this year, reversing three years of shrinkage.
New-car sales fell 11% to 547,400 units last year, according to NAAMSA. Demand improved slightly in the first quarter of 2017, but deliveries dipped 3% last month.
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