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

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.

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

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.

The South African truck market, coming off the back of an outstanding 2005 annual result, has continued to achieve impressive monthly returns in both December and January, notwithstanding the fact that these two months normally deliver the lowest total new vehicle sales volumes of the entire calendar year. The main driver of January's excellent result was a strong surge in HCV segment sales, with this grouping of predominantly distribution trade vehicles now returning to market share levels above 20% for the first time in nearly half a decade.

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.