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One in four imported cars now comes from India

3rd February 2014

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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The top three countries from which South Africa imported vehicles in 2013 were India, at number one, with 97 167 vehicles, with South Korea second, at 62 058 units, and Germany third, at 56 997 units, said Standard Bank vehicle and asset finance head Sydney Soundy on Monday.

This means India has the highest contribution of total imports, at 24.9%, followed by South Korea, at 15.9%, and Germany, at 14.6%.

India is home to a number of domestic brands, such as Mahindra, but has also, in recent years, developed into a manufacturing hub for a number of European, Korean and US brands. The Ford Figo and Toyota Etios come from India, for example.

In 2004, only 1.2% of all South African new vehicle imports came from India, accounting for 0.3% of all new vehicle sales, said Soundy. However, in 2004, there was only one vehicle manufacturer that imported vehicles from India.

In 2013, there were ten different vehicle manufacturers that imported product from the sub-continent.

“This has changed tremendously, with imports from India now accounting for 14.9% of all new vehicles sold [in South Africa],” noted Soundy.

Owing to the eurozone crisis a number of European car makers have moved some of their manufacturing plants and facilities into Asia to take advantage of lower operating costs, noted Soundy.

“In 2013 imported vehicles made up 59.8% of the total vehicles sold in South Africa. This is a huge increase in imports compared with ten years ago, when imported vehicles only made up 21.2% of vehicles sold.

“From the 389 461 imported vehicles sold in 2013, 86.6% of these vehicles were passenger cars. Imported passenger vehicles make up 74.8% of the total passenger car market.”

South Africa imported vehicles from five different countries in 1994, added Soundy, while in 2013 this increased to 31 different countries.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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