S.Africa Dec new vehicle sales fall 15.1 pct yr/yr

(Reuters) - South African new vehicle sales dropped 15.1 percent year-on-year in December on higher interest rates and tighter credit laws, and should moderate further this year, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Wednesday.

NAAMSA said new vehicle sales fell to 41,813 units in December compared to the same month in 2006.

New sales incorporating Associated Motor Holdings were 44,926 vehicles in December compared to 54,874 over the same period the year before.

AMH is an importing and distributing company whose data is reported separately because it does not provide some of the vehicle sale breakdowns required by NAAMSA.

New vehicle sales during the whole of 2007 fell by 5.2 percent to 612,707 compared to 2006, after registering four successive record years previously, NAAMSA added.

"During 2007, the automotive industry was buffeted by a series of negative events (including) progressive increases in interest rates, the introduction of the National Credit Legislation ... which introduced stricter disciplines governing the granting of credit," it said.

 

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