.

The Toyota Hilux remained the most popular vehicle in South Africa, with 2558 units moved in May.

With a 6.5% decline in interest rates since late 2008 creating some extra cash in household pockets, new vehicle sales in South Africa have flourished, but Japan's earthquake contributed to slight slowdown in growth for the month of May over previous months in 2011.

According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), new car sales totalled 28 830 units in May, which is an improvement of 3106 new cars or 12.1% when compared to volumes sold in May of 2010.

However, constraints on the availability of various models and spares supplying local product lines from Japan have contributed to 2.6% decline in year on year growth when compared to the first four month of the year. It is expected that supply from Japan will normalise over the medium term.

Sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses at 10 609 units during May reflected a fall of 7.9% compared to the 11 516 units sold during the same month last year. One of SA's biggest sellers, the Toyota Quantum minibus, which is assembled in Japan slowed heavily in sales last month and contributed to this figure.

Out of a total of 41 555 new vehicles sold in May, which includes passenger and commercial heavy vehicles, 82.6% represented dealer sales, 10.4% went to the rental industry, 5.1 to corporate fleets and 1.9% to government.

Industry analysts predict that despite a shortage of supply from Japan, domestic vehicle sales is still on target for overall growth of 15% for 2011. -Star Motoring

BEST SELLERS:

1. Toyota Hilux - 2558

2. VW Polo Vivo - 2547

3. VW New Polo - 1935

4. Chevy Corsa Utility - 1248

5. Ford Figo - 1128

6. Nissan NP200 - 1036

7. Toyota Corolla/Auris - 1029

8. Mercedes C-Class - 968

9. Isuzu KB - 934

10. BMW 3 Series - 888

11. Toyota Fortuner - 758

12. Ford Bantam - 719

13. Chevy Cruze - 691

14. Nissan Micra - 646

15. Toyota Yaris - 622

16. Toyota Quantum - 590

17. VW Golf - 580

18. Ford Ranger - 511

19. Renault Sandero - 503

20. Audi A4 - 453