Vehicle exports set for another solid year

ED RICHARDSON ANOTHER SOLID year is predicted for 2006 by the motor vehicle manufacturing industry, according to the National Association of Automobile Manufactures of South Africa’s (Naamsa) second quarter review. This is particularly true for new vehicle exports, which showed a 55.6% improvement on 2005’s figures in the first six months of the year. Naamsa expects light commercial cars to continue to lead exports in the remaining months of 2006. While new vehicle sales continued to show improvements in the second quarter of 2006, the rate of growth, with the exception of the heavy truck segment, was slower than previous quarters. According to Naamsa, the exceptional domestic sales performance during the first half of 2005 should ensure another record year for the SA new vehicle manufacturing industry. Domestic sales and production are also expected to rise to all time highs. But Naamsa also expects some consolidation in the market due to interest rates, energy, vehicle operating costs and new vehicle pricing.