By the end of October, the cumulative year-to-date total of 22 732 units has already overtaken, by 32%, the highly celebrated result of 20 814 unit deliveries achieved during the corresponding period in 2004 which was, in itself, a post-1982 record for the market.

277

This welcome recovery in HCV sales indicates a far more progressive approach towards fleet management in the very important distribution sector of our economy.

232

The sales total of 2,028 units reported to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) during December, pushed the year's sales volume to a final grand total of 27,413 units, which was second only to the previous all-time record of 30,742 units that had been established in 1981.

193

The even spread of the growth across these groupings is pleasing evidence that fleet expansion and renewal in the industry is wide-based, after a period in which these activities had been heavily biased towards the heavier end of the market.

174

The upturn in MCV sales, which first became apparent around the middle of 2004, is clearly the driving force behind the market at present.

155

If a substantial proportion of the 80 000 Taxi Recap vehicles due for delivery over the next five years is to be reported in the MCV segment, we could be in for even more spectacular growth in the overall over-3 500 kg GVM market.

29