SA motor industry roars through recession

"Recession? What recession?" These could well be the words expressed by those in the motor industry as vehicles continue to fly off the showroom floor quicker than vetkoek on a very cold winter's morning.

The latest figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) this week show most manufacturers with improved figures compared to last year. Volkswagen South Africa is leading the pack with its Polo Vivo again the number one selling brand in South Africa.

A healthy 35167 new passenger cars were sold last month - a whopping 23.6% increase on the corresponding period for 2010.

Although the figures are still some way off the dizzy heights of 2006 when sales peaked, the motor industry is definitely on its way back.

"The recovery has been fueled by gains in income and household spending - and has been further supported by an ongoing recovery in the net wealth of households in relation to disposable income," said Volkswagen director of sales and marketing, Mike Glendinning.

"However, significant fuel and energy price increases, together with stalled house-price growth and slow recovery in demand for credit, suggest the current rate of growth in the new-cars sales cycle could slow during the second half of 2011, with the new car market potentially ending the year between 15 and 20% up on 2010," he said.

And the surge in sales figures and renewed enthusiasm in the industry is illustrated by the fact that MotorMania has gone the extra mile this week to bring you five new car launches from around the country.

From the much anticipated Golf R to a new-generation Suzuki Swift, manufacturers are hoping to tap in to this resurgence in the market with the release of an unprecedented number of vehicles.