JOHANNESBURG, March 2 (Reuters) – South Africa’s total
new vehicle sales increased by 6.4 percent year-on-year to
52,356 units in February, the National Association of Automobile
Manufacturers (NAAMSA) said on Friday.
The February total sales industry numbers includes data from
Mercedes-Benz South Africa although the firm is currently
reporting restricted information under a directive from German
parent company Daimler.
Naamsa said exports of South African-produced vehicles,
including Mercedes-Benz SA, were down 10 percent at 22,630 units
compared to 25,155 vehicles exported during February last year.
“Vehicle exports into Europe (are) likely to soften as a
result of the recession and debt crisis in the euro zone,” the
association said, adding this could be offset by higher export
volumes to other African countries.
The outlook for 2012 was for modest growth in total industry
sales, helped by relatively low interest rates for consumers and
an improvement in vehicle affordability.
(Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa, editing by Xola Potelwa)
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