Windhoek — Vehicle sales in the Southern African Customs Union for June showed a slight improvement over May. Nevertheless, the slide continues with a drop of 9347 units compared to June 2008. The year on year decline now stands at 22.6%.

And with only 19,035 cars finding new homes last month, the year on year decline in passenger cars comes in at 17.6%.

At semester end, aggregate industry new vehicle sales for 2009 (190,245) reflects a decline of 33.8%, compared to the 287,454 vehicles sold during the corresponding semester last year.

In the individual stakes, there are always those who, even in a recession, will be robust enough to hang in there. A prime example is Toyota with 10 891 units, followed by Volkswagen with 6 476, and Ford Motor Co with 5 222.

In the luxury sector, Porsche continues to impress with 32 units sold. Sales consist mostly of the Cayenne with 17 and 12 units in the Cayman/Boxster line-up.

The BMW Group is also doing quite nicely, with its 3-Series selling well (1 028), and even the fairly pricey Z4 being sold to 49 new owners.

The Fiat Group's survival continues to be based on the Palio.

Ford Motor Co is carried by Fiesta (648), Mazda2 (228), Mazda3 (235) and Focus (276).

The impressive 509 units sold by Honda, are based mainly on their Car of the Year titleholder Accord (110), Civic (166) and the Jazz (165).

Tata-owned Jaguar/Land Rover combo achieved total sales of 338 units - mainly thanks to their Freelander II (112), and the Discovery 3 (96).

With their newly launched E-Class, Mercedes-Benz is also doing fairly well, given the circumstances. The company sold and/or exported 2 853 cars, with most buyers voting for the C (1 132), M (102) and E-Class (174).

Spare a thought for Nissan. With 630 total sales, the company is relying heavily on the Livina (265 units), X-Trail (178), and the Qashqai (148). The quaint-looking and by now outdated Micra only sold two units.

The now rudderless Subaru SA - following the departure of CEO Teresita van Gaalen - only managed to sell 70 units (25 Forester, 38 Impreza), despite offering some of the best and most iconic cars in their line-up.

Suzuki Auto is picking up momentum with 310 units sold. Buyers went for the Swift (112), the SX4 (92), and the little Jimny 4x4 (65). It's believed that this model still enjoys a (short) waiting list.

Big boys Toyota rely heavily on their Corolla/Verso/Auris combo (1,607), the ugly little Avanza (304) and the superb value-for-money Fortuner (599). And 45 individuals don't seem to mind wearing kidney belts by buying the Land Cruiser 200. The Yaris is slowly beginning to show its age, but still managed sales of 837.

The Volkswagen/Audi badge continues to appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers. Altogether 340 invested in an Audi A4/Avant/Cabriolet, while 9 fortunate individuals are now owners of the superb R8. The Beetle (1) should really be deleted from the list. Sales figures show that Polo/Classic (1 570), and CitiGolf (1 020) form the mainstay. The newly launched Golf went to 385 new owners despite the fairly heavy price tag.