VEHICLE sales last year fell 5,9% from 1998 to their lowest level since 1992, a manufacturers’ association said on Wednesday. Last year 295,785 new vehicles were sold, compared with 314,410 in 1998, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said in a statement. Nearly 36% of these were passenger cars, the association said. Brand Pretorius, chief executive officer of McCarthy Motors Holdings, a major car dealer, blamed the weak sales on poor economic growth. “A low level of business confidence resulted in subdued corporate buying while punitive interest rates put a damper on private buying,” he said.