Car sales break all records

CAR sales have rocketed in the last seven months, breaking all records, according to yesterday’s Politis.

The paper reported that car sales for 2004 had surpassed all expectations, particularly in June and July.

Figures for the last seven months show that dealers and importers sold almost 3,000 more cars than they had done last year. The month of June recorded 6,204 car sales, 4,758 of which were saloon type cars, showing an increase of 2,000 compared to the same time last year.

July registered a total of 5,682 sales, (4,313 saloon), amounting to around 1,200 cars more than last July.

The number of car registrations so far this year already equals the total number of registrations for 2002 and is expected to surpass last year’s figures by the end of the year. From January to July, 32,511 cars have been registered, 15,424 of which were new cars and 17,087 used imports.

Out of the 32,511, around 25,000 were private saloon cars. This number is expected to surpass 2002 and 2003 figures by the end of August, said the paper.

Sales and registrations of new saloon cars reached a record 10,444, compared to last year’s 7,797 and 7,942 for 2002.

Used saloon car registrations reached 14,518 by July, up by some 2,000 over last year’s figures for the same period.

The paper notes that if the figures continue on the same path, used car dealers will sell more vehicles than they did last year, despite their falling share of the market.

According to Politis, the sale of used saloon cars fell from 70 per cent of the market last year to 59 per cent, while new saloons reached 41 per cent of market share.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.