Strong sales and a significantly improved share of the light commercial vehicle market have lifted Nissan South Africa’s market performance as the motor industry continues to recover from the effects of a troubled economy.

Total industry passenger and light commercial vehicle sales for August, as reported by Naamsa, show an encouraging improvement of 35,7% compared to the same month last year. Sales for the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2009 are up 20,3%.

Nissan South Africa’s passenger vehicle sales were up 44,9% compared to the same month a year ago and improved by 23,8% for the first eight months of the year, matching the industry’s overall performance.

Nissan LCV sales year-to-date rose 31,7% compared to the same period last year, beating the industry’s growth in this sector of 12,9%. In the process Nissan has improved its share of the LCV market by 2,4% to 17,0% for the year to date.

“August sales were clearly influenced by the introduction of the new carbon tax legislation that came into effect on September 1,” said Johan Kleynhans, Nissan South Africa’s director of marketing, sales and after sales. “There was considerable publicity given to this new tax on motorists and many new car buyers would have brought their purchase decision forward.

Source: http://www.nissan.co.za/en/web/news/news_13422.htm