South Africa  [Thu. 2nd February, 2006]
New vehicle retail sales for the month of January 2006, as reported to NAAMSA, came in at 48 855 units, nearly 20.3% up on January 2005 and 3 085 units up on December 2005. Of that 34 278 units were passenger vehicle sales and 12 651 units were Light Commercial Vehicles.

"Passenger vehicles continued to show strong growth this month. January is often considered a slow month, with stock availability at its lowest due to year-end plant shutdowns. In spite of stock shortages sales figures have remained high," explains Nigel Harris, Vice President - Marketing & Sales for Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa.

"We are delighted with the performance of the Ford brand during the month of January. At 4 137 units the Ford brand has shown a substantial growth of 48 percent over the same period last year, more than double that of the industry average.

While passenger vehicles continue to show growth in the market, the LCV segment had a challenging month with sales dropping off slightly from the previous month.

"The LCV market demand continues to outstrip supply and this is expected to continue through the first quarter of 2006.

"January has been a great start to 2006 and once again it is heading for a record breaking year. Current industry sales projections for 2006 are in the region of 7% to 10%," concluded Harris.

ends

TOP PERFORMING
NEW PASSENGER VEHICLES
January 2006
Model Volume
1. VW Polo/Polo Classic 2966
2. Toyota Corolla/RunX/Verso 2809
3. Toyota Yaris 2611
4. Mercedes Benz C Class 2158
5. VW Citi Golf 1889
6. BMW3 Series 1679
7. Toyota Tazz 1417
8. Opel Corsa/Corsa Classic 1522
9. Ford Fiesta 914
10. VW Golf V 835
TOP PERFORMING
NEW LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
January 2006
Model Volume
1. Toyota Hilux 2009
2. Isuzu KB 1450
3. Opel Corsa Utility 1271
4. Nissan Hardbody 1258
5. Ford Bantam 1207




Source : http://www.ford.co.za/
Reporter : Mr. Ajay Sharma