New Car

Work begins on new Â£10 million car park

2007-01-16T22:05:00.000-08:00

Work begins on new Â£10 million car park

Construction of a new state-of-the-art car park in Central Reading has begun as part of the Â£250 million Chatham Place development.

The car park is being built between Chatham Street and Eaton Place and will offer 590 spaces when it opens in August next year.

Record new car sales in October

2006-12-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

Record new car sales in October

A record number of new cars were sold in October, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) said on Thursday.There were 37 311 sales, 3 973 (11,9%) more than the 33 338 new cars sold in October last year, Naamsa said in a statement.However, sales were 464 (1,2%) lower than the 37 775 units sold in September.Year-on-year, new car sales were still 15,4% higher than in the first ten months of 2005.Naamsa said vehicle sales had significantly improved in October, after months of consolidation in market growth rates.There were 7 166 more new vehicle sales last month than the same period last year when 50 682 units were sold.Sales were also up 249 on the record number of sales in September. Year-on-year, total new vehicle sales were 15,6% up on those in the first ten months of 2005, Naamsa said.There was also a significant improvement, year-on-year, in the growth rates of the sales of new light commercial vehicles and bakkies and minibuses.The 17 405 units sold -- a record for an October month -- was an improvement of 2 650 (18%) on the 14 755 sales last year.Light commercial vehicle sales also increased, by 782 (4,7%) from the 16 623 sales in September, and were 15% up on the first ten months of 2005.Naamsa described sales of medium and heavy trucks as relatively good, with 1 309 medium truck sales and 1 823 of heavy trucks and buses.Both segments had continued to benefit from strong fixed investment and infrastructural development, it said.Medium truck sales were 19,1% up on last year, and heavy truck sales 23,8% up.As far as vehicle exports were concerned, they increased to 146 861 in October, 34 816 (31,1%) more than in October last year.While the momentum of export sales had declined in the past three months, it was expected to pick up as additional vehicle export programmes were implemented.Naamsa expected consolidation for the rest of the year into 2007, on the back of interest rate increases, higher producer price inflation and increased pricing pressure from exchange rate weakness.

New car market up again in October

2006-12-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

New car market up again in October

The new car market surged again to hits highest October level since 1984, according to figures released by Land Transport New Zealand. 7791 new cars were registered for the month, 5% up on September and 3.9% ahead of October 2005s record. Conversely, new commercial vehicle sales, at 1507, were 16% down on October last year. Year to date, new car sales are just 1.1% behind the same ten months of 2005, but new commericial vehicle sales are running 10.3% behind.

The new car market continues at a very similar level to last years record, said Perry Kerr, CEO of the Motor Industry Association, But its clear that tightening business conditions are having an effect on the sales of commercial vehicles.

Toyota have raced ahead to take a commanding lead over Ford in year to date new vehicle sales, and Corolla was easily the top selling individual model for the month, with Commodore second.

Richards gets new car

2006-11-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

Richards gets new car

Jason Richards will debut a brand new VZ Commodore for Tasman Motorsport at this weekend's Ferodo Triple Challenge at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.

Despite just three rounds remaining in the championship series and the looming introduction of the all-new VE Commodore in 2007, the team is eager to test and compare the modification on the new car against its existing cars in order to be better prepared for the arrival of next year's model.

"The new car is the story of the week for us," Richards said.

"I'm keen to get my hands on it and see how it goes at Symmons Plains. It's going to be a challenging weekend, as it's a new car that hasn't been run before, but we'll soon find out what the new car can offer us."

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EL harbour gets set to attract new car trade

2006-11-09T22:59:00.000-08:00

EL harbour gets set to attract new car trade

EAST Londons harbour has embarked on a multimillion-rand project to build an additional 1000 open parking bays to its car terminal.

The port is on a low-profile drive to become the countrys top seaborne vehicle transit terminal.

Port spokesperson Terry Taylor yesterday said the expansion was essential if it wanted to attract new car imports and exports to the harbour.

We want to create the extra space to create demand from more car manufacturers to use the port for their exports, he said.

The new parking bays will be built on the site of a de-commissioned power station that is situated next to the existing closed car terminal in the harbour.

Taylor said that the project will double the amount of open parking available for cars at the harbour.

We have taken ownership of the power station.