FORD MOTOR COMPANY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’S RESPONSE National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa total sales for January came in at 52 213 units, a 6.9% increase over the same month in 2006. Passenger vehicles accounted for 35 819 with Commercial Vehicles making up the additional 16 394 sales. Ford Motor Company sold 5 821 vehicles of which 2 976 were passenger cars and 2 845 were commercial vehicles.
Fiesta was the best performing passenger vehicle with 866 units sold while the Ford Bantam continued to hold favour among buyers with 1 572 vehicles sold. Though traditionally, January represents a strong sales month as new car purchasers hope to benefit from the new year registration date, and the associated higher resale value of their vehicles, stock shortages often offset these figures.
“Ford’s figures were up on those posted in January 2006, showing we are continuing to grow year on year,” explained Jacques Brent, General Manager Mazda South Africa.
“From an industry perspective we are kicking off the year in line with market predictions. Year on year figures are 6.9% up in January, while in comparison sales were up 6.0% in December 2006. Industry expectations are that we will experience a more subdued growth rate in the region of 4% to 6% during 2007.”
TOP PERFORMING NEW PASSENGER VEHICLES January 2007
- Toyota Corolla/RunX/Verso 3 446
- VW Polo/Classic 3 325
- Toyota Yaris 2 795
- VW CitiGolf 2 578
- BMW3 Series 2 072
- Mercedes Benz C Class 1 924
- VW Golf/Jetta V 1 192
- Opel Corsa 1 123
- Ford Fiesta 866
- Toyota Avanza 735
TOP PERFORMING NEW LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLE January 2007
- Toyota Hilux 2 361
- Opel Corsa Utility 1 599
- Ford Bantam 1 572
- Isuzu KB 1 495
- Nissan Hardbody 987
- Ford Ranger 862
- Toyota Hi-ace 675
- Toyota Quantum 638
- Nissan 1400 616
- Mitsubishi Colt 568
Source: Naamsa
