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Too many vehicles on road
- By Raghav Ramful
- Published 16th May, 2008
- Society
- Unrated
There were around 334,145 vehicles registered at the National Transport Authority (NTA) as at December 2007. Quite a significant figure set against a background of a population reaching 1.2 million and on top of that there seems to be no reversing trend for the number of registered vehicles.
More interesting still, is the fact that the number of vehicles on our roads has witnessed a 4.6% rise within a one year period-from 2006 to 2007 representing an increase of 14,705 vehicles.
On the other hand, an interesting observation is the clear cut preference of Mauritians for brand new vehicles as opposed to imported second-hand vehicles that were once very popular. Well, the tax reduction on new vehicles and payment facilities have certainly played an important part in the choice of Mauritians as well as the wider variety of new vehicles hitting local showrooms every month. It follows that out of the 19,246 vehicles that were registered in 2007, a staggering
12,482 were brand new representing 65%. Some 5,354 were imported second-hand vehicles representing 27% and the rest we re-registered vehicles.
Meanwhile, the car market has gradually fine-tuned its car imports to better suit the distinct taste of Mauritians as far as the choice of vehicles is concerned.
“I feel that in Mauritius, we definitely have a very distinct taste for automobiles which is different from Europeans. The Europeans and Japanese have geared their markets towards hatchback five-door cars, whereas in Mauritius, we are keen on four-door sedan cars. This is the major difference and I still find difficulties understanding this,” says a sales representative from Iframac. According to him, the world trend in the medium car segment is the five-door and the Mauritians do not like that. “But this is definitely changing and we might expect a different scenario in the near future. Mauritians on the other hand are not ready to welcome eco-friendly cars,” adds the sales representative.
More interesting still, is the fact that the number of vehicles on our roads has witnessed a 4.6% rise within a one year period-from 2006 to 2007 representing an increase of 14,705 vehicles.
On the other hand, an interesting observation is the clear cut preference of Mauritians for brand new vehicles as opposed to imported second-hand vehicles that were once very popular. Well, the tax reduction on new vehicles and payment facilities have certainly played an important part in the choice of Mauritians as well as the wider variety of new vehicles hitting local showrooms every month. It follows that out of the 19,246 vehicles that were registered in 2007, a staggering
Meanwhile, the car market has gradually fine-tuned its car imports to better suit the distinct taste of Mauritians as far as the choice of vehicles is concerned.
“I feel that in Mauritius, we definitely have a very distinct taste for automobiles which is different from Europeans. The Europeans and Japanese have geared their markets towards hatchback five-door cars, whereas in Mauritius, we are keen on four-door sedan cars. This is the major difference and I still find difficulties understanding this,” says a sales representative from Iframac. According to him, the world trend in the medium car segment is the five-door and the Mauritians do not like that. “But this is definitely changing and we might expect a different scenario in the near future. Mauritians on the other hand are not ready to welcome eco-friendly cars,” adds the sales representative.
