Car sales surged in 2001 alleviating fears that private consumption will drop due to the stock market slide. According to figures released by the Statistics Department on Friday, the registration of cars - an indicator of car sales and a good indicator of private consumption - increased by 18% totaling 38,075 compared to 32,165 in 2000.

The increase was largely due to the sale of second-hand, imported saloon cars. Out of the total 21,164 saloon cars that were registered in 2001, almost two thirds were second-hand cars. To the contrary, motorcycle sales plunged 21% to 4,756 compared to 5,410 in 2000.

Private consumption in the first eight months of 2001 was up 5.8% compared to 6.1% during the same period in 2000. According to Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, this “was largely due to the large increase in car sales.”