SA car sales rise

February marked a second consecutive month of year-on-year increases after nearly three years of declining sales, when the industry was one of the hardest hit by a global downturn and weak consumer demand.

"Despite the low base last year, it was encouraging that total industry sales for the first two months of 2010 were 18 percent ahead of the corresponding two months in 2009," the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement.