Bulgaria's new car sales on the rise in Nov 2010

Bulgaria's car market witnessed an annual rise in November sales for the first time in 23 months, according to figures of the Association of Car Manufacturers and their Authorised Representatives (ACM). In the eleventh month of the year, a total 1,920 units of light vehicles, lorries, buses and motorcycles were purchased, up by 9% compared with the year-ago period. November also turned out to be the best-selling month so far in the year, followed by June with 1,910 vehicles. "We all hope this is the beginning of the car market's revival," ACM's chairman, Stoyan Zhelev, said. From January to November 2010 however, sales of new cars in the country fell to 17,327 units from 24,643 in the same period of 2009, corresponding to an annual decrease of 29.6%. Nevertheless, the drop was more moderate than the 32.86% slump registered in the first ten months of 2010 and the 37.8% decline in the January-September period. In terms of dealers, Toyota clung on the lead with 1,786 sold units, capturing 10.78% of the market. Ford was the runner-up with 1,547 units and a 9.34% market share. Volkswagen retained the third spot with 1,506 deals, which accounted for 9.09% of the market, followed by Peugeot, Dacia, Skoda, Citroen, Opel, Renault and Chevrolet. In lorries and buses, Iveco was the market leader, slightly outstripping Mercedes. In terms of new motorcycle sales, Peugeot occupied the top position, accounting for over 40% of the market (Dnevnik)