2010 was a mostly positive year for carmakers around the globe, with most markets outside Europe posting decent gains. While we're still waiting for South Africa's sales figures to be released, let's take a look at some of the numbers from other corners of the globe.
Europe suffered a horrible year with many countries having scrapped the incentives that drove sales through the recession-ridden previous years.
A 0.7 percent slide in French car sales in December brought the year's decline there to 2.2 percent, but the French car market saw 2010 out with a bang in terms of new orders, as the final scrapping bonuses spurred drivers to buy new cars.
In Spain, car sales fell for the sixth consecutive month in December following the end of a government trade-in bonus scheme, with a 23.9 percent drop. Despite this, sales rose 3.1 percent for the full year.
In contrast, Portuguese new car sales leapt 39 percent last year to hit a five-year high level, with sales rocketing by 62 percent in December as consumers rushed to purchase a vehicle before a tax increase took effect.
German new car sales picked up speed in December (the first monthly increase since November 2009), but slumped by 23 percent in 2010 as a whole.
Car sales in India were reported strong in December with Fitch expecting sales growth of up to 15 percent in 2011 driven mainly by a growing middle class and more financing opportunities.
New vehicle sales in Japan last year rose 10.6 percent from 2009, the first annual gain in seven years, thanks to government subsidies for green cars, an industry group reported.
However December sales tumbled almost a third as the subsidies, introduced by the government to boost the industry in the aftermath of the global downturn, came to an end.
Things were positive on the other side of the pond, where American car sales rose more than 11 percent in 2010 to almost 11.6-million vehicles, snapping a four-year slide that forced the Detroit automakers into a wrenching restructuring that included government-directed bankruptcies for GM and Chrysler.
U.S. sales rose to the highest rate in 16 months in December, and major carmakers forecast the recovery would gather momentum in 2011.
The gains for the top U.S. carmakers (GM, 7.5 percent and ford at 6.7 percent) underline the stunning turnaround in the fortunes of GM and Ford. Meanwhile the traditionally strong Toyota, which has been struggling with the aftermath of the 2009 safety crisis, failed to make any significant sales gains last year.
GM said it expected industry-wide U.S. sales of about 12.7-million to 13.2-million vehicles in 2011.
However, rising fuel prices in 2011 could present a renewed challenge to Ford, GM and Chrysler even after efforts by all three automakers to diversify their product offerings and push into more fuel-efficient small cars, analysts said.
According to Reuters, carmakers are increasingly relying on growth in high-profile emerging markets like China, Brazil, Russia and India, while the U.S. market is gradually recovering.
China, which is now the biggest car market in the world, looks set to continue with remarkable growth through 2011 despite its new restriction on vehicle sales in Beijing and certain tax incentives being phased out.
We can't give you an overall figure for 2010 Chinese sales as not all carmakers have reported their figures yet, but GM has announced a 29% increase for 2010. -Sources: Sapa-AFP & Reuters.