Pretoria - After recent interest rate increases, the strong consumer demand for new cars is now starting to subside, in spite of the fact that new vehicle sales last month had set a record for the month of September.

Tony Twine, a motor industry analyst and director of Econometrics, said yesterday that most of the growth in this market was now left "in the hands of corporate people".

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) yesterday reported a considerable decline in year-on-year growth in new car and also light commercial vehicle sales last month.