Vehicle exports showed a strong recovery in 2005 and rose to a new record of 139 912 units an improvement of 25,8 per cent over the 111 253 vehicles shipped in 2004.

But even this dramatic increase could not topple the existing record, set in 2003, when 126 661 built-up vehicles were exported from South Africa.

Amazingly the increase in 2005 came despite the strong rand and a softening in demand in some export markets, particularly Europe. However, Volkswagen was far and away the local industry export leader in 2005, shipping 40 045 units to destinations outside South Africa's borders.

That was an impressive 47 per cent up on the 27 203 units exported in 2004 and equated to 28,6 per cent of the total vehicle export market. The strong demand for Volkswagen Polos and Golfs in export markets obviously made a big contribution to Volkswagen SA achieving the milestone of producing more than 100 000 units in a year at its Uitenhage facility for the first time.

DaimlerChrysler SA, through its Mercedes-Benz brand, pipped BMW by a short head for runner-up position to Volkswagen SA. Mercedes exports totaled 29 375 units, which was 318 units ahead of BMW, who had been the pacesetter in 2004, with exports of 33 512 units.

However, a significant contributor was Toyota joining the "big boys from Germany" in terms of volume exports, with the new Hilux being shipped to many destinations in Europe and Africa from May. This helped Toyota almost double its export volumes from 10 812 in 2004 to 20 660 last year - growth of 91 per cent.

Interestingly, Toyota appears to have stopped exports of its Corolla/RunX range to Australia in the latter part of the year - possibly to make these vehicles available to the local market in view of the production constraint while the company's new paint shop is under construction in Durban (due for completion in the third quarter of 2006).

In contrast, Toyota's exports of light commercial vehicles - mainly the new Hilux - shot up from only 1 961 in 2004 to 15 538 in 2005, for a 60 per cent share of total LCV exports. By far the most popular Hilux exported was the 3,0 diesel double cab at 14 024 units.

Ford is another manufacturer who, like Toyota, benefited from new export contracts. Ford's export total rocketed from only 158 units in 2004 to 11 966 units last year, virtually all of them being from the comprehensive Focus passenger car range.

The only other makes to have export totals of more than 1 000 units for the year were Nissan with 5 540 and Mazda on 1 154.

It was very interesting to see that Japan, one of the world's leading vehicle manufacturers, takes more vehicle exports from South Africa than any other country. Last year 48 182 units, mainly Volkswagens and BMWs, made their way to Japan, along with some products from Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda. Next biggest market was Australia (38 289 units, mainly Volkswagens, Fords, Toyotas and Mercedes-Benz), with the United Kingdom (19 909 units, mainly Mercedes-Benz) in third place.

Exports into Africa moved upwards by 32,5 per cent in 2005 to 15 303 units, from 11 543 in 2004, which had been the lowest total since 1999. Toyota regained leadership of the African export market after many years of dominance by rival Nissan. Last year Toyota exported 6 951 units into African countries, compared with a year before, while Nissan's sales dropped from 6 043 in 2004 to 5 442 last year.

There was also a significant change in the African country taking the most vehicles from South Africa. Last year it was Algeria while in the past it had been countries such as Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

A total of 2 379 units went to Algeria last year, with the next biggest markets for vehicles "made in South Africa" being Zambia (2 002), Zimbabwe (1 945), Mocambique (1 285) and Nigeria (1 053).