Category Archives: Vehicle Sales

A total of 767 new vehicles were sold in May, down 15.25% m/m from the 905 vehicles sold in April 2022 and down 2.9% y/y from the 790 vehicles sold in May 2021. Year-to-date 4,317 new vehicles have been sold, of which 2,243 were passenger vehicles, 1,800 light commercial vehicles, and 272 medium and heavy commercial vehicles. In comparison, 4,050 new vehicles were sold during the first 5 months of 2021. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, a total of 9,695 new vehicles were sold at the end of May, representing a 9.0% y/y increase from the 8,912 new vehicles sold over the comparable period a year ago.

402 new passenger vehicles were sold in May, the lowest monthly sales figure so far this year, and down 13.7% from the 466 passenger vehicles sold in April, but up 12.3% when compared to the 358 sold in May 2021. Year-to-date, 2,243 new passenger vehicles have been sold, an increase of 21.4% from the 1,847 new passenger vehicles sold over the same period in 2021. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, a total of 4,880 new passenger vehicles were sold, up 26.0% y/y when compared the 3,872 passenger vehicles sold over the comparable period last year. Despite being a somewhat weaker month for new passenger vehicle sales, May’s sales figure is not far off the average monthly sales figure for the past 12 months.

365 new commercial vehicles were sold in May, down 16.9% m/m from the 439 commercial vehicles sold in April and down 15.9% y/y when compared to the 432 commercial vehicles sold in May 2021. Light commercial vehicle sales continue to make up the bulk of the new commercial vehicle sales with 309 sold in May, followed by 47 heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicles and 9 medium commercial vehicles sold during the month. Light- and medium commercial vehicle sales fell by 21.2% m/m and 47.1% m/m, respectively, while heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicle sales rose by 56.7% m/m. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales fell by 6.5% y/y, while medium commercial vehicle and heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicle sales rose by 0.5% y/y and 12.4% y/y, respectively.

Toyota retained its lead in the new passenger vehicle sales segment with 33.0% of the segment sales year-to-date, despite the significant decline in its monthly vehicles sales figure in May following the closure of its plant in KwaZulu-Natal due to flood damage. Volkswagen, with a 19.8% of the passenger vehicle market share, was second, followed by Kia and Suzuki with 8.8% and 7.8% of the market, respectively, leaving the remaining 30.6% of the market share to other brands.

On a year-to-date basis, Toyota maintained its dominance in the light commercial vehicle space with a 54.9% market share despite also recoding significantly lower sales in this segment, followed by Nissan with 12.1% of the market. Hino continues to lead the medium commercial vehicle segment with 33.9% of sales year-to-date. Scania retains its position as the leader in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 31.6% of the market share year-to-date, an increase from last month.

The Bottom Line  

12-month cumulative new passenger vehicle sales continue to increase, rising for the 18^th consecutive month, while 12-month cumulative commercial vehicle sales continue to hover around the 4,800 level, where it has been for the last 14 months. While the month of May has historically been a relatively weaker month for new vehicle sales in Namibia, this year’s decline in May was to an extent driven by the closure of the Toyota plant in KwaZulu-Natal, as the manufacturer recorded an over 50% decline in sales in all segments when compared to its monthly average over the past 12 months. Overall year-to-date new vehicle sales are still roughly in line with those of 2021.

A total of 905 new vehicles were sold in April, a 14.1% m/m contraction but an increase of 19.9% y/y from the 755 vehicles sold in April 2022. Year-to-date 3,550 new vehicles have been sold, of which 1,841 were passenger vehicles, 1,491 light commercial vehicles, and 218 medium and heavy commercial vehicles. By comparison, the first four months of 2021 saw 3,260 new vehicles sold. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, a total of 9,718 new vehicles were sold at the end of April, representing a 13.0% y/y increase from the 8,602 sold over the comparable period a year ago.

466 new passenger vehicles were sold during April, 11.9% lower than the 529 passenger vehicles sold in March, but an increase of 30.2% from the 358 sold in April 2021. Year-to-date, passenger vehicle sales rose to 1,841, an increase of 23.6% than during the same period last year. On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger vehicle sales rose to 4,836, 29.2% higher than over the same period in 2021.

New commercial vehicle sales displayed a similar trend, declining month-on-month, but are up from the same month last year. 439 new commercial vehicles were sold in April, representing a month-on-month contraction of 16.4%, but a year-on-year increase of 10.6% y/y. 392 Light commercial vehicles, 17 medium commercial vehicles, and 30 heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicles were sold during the month. Light- and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell by 16.1% m/m and 30.2% m/m, respectively, while medium commercial vehicle sales rose by 13.3% m/m. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales are down 2.0% y/y, while medium commercial vehicle sales rose by 6.7% y/y, and heavy commercial vehicles climbed by 21.1% y/y.

Toyota continues to lead the new passenger vehicle sales segment with 36.8% of the segment sales year-to-date, followed by Volkswagen with 20.4% of the market share. The two top brands maintained their large gap over the rest of the market with Kia and Suzuki following with 7.9% and 6.1% of the market, respectively, leaving the remaining 28.8% of the market to other brands.

On a year-to-date basis, Toyota maintained its dominance in the light commercial vehicle space with a 60.6% market share, followed by Nissan with 10.7% of the market. Hino leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 37.7% of sales year-to-date. Scania remained number one in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 27.3% of the market share year-to-date. 

The Bottom Line  

We noted in last month’s report that March new vehicle sales generally have a seasonal effect of being slightly higher than the surrounding months, and that we expect to see April’s new vehicle sales to return to the levels witnessed in the last 18 months. This has now transpired with new vehicle sales being 14.1% lower than last month. New vehicle sales were however 19.9% higher than during the same month a year ago and 13.5% higher than the average monthly sales figure over the past twelve months. On a 12-month cumulative basis, new passenger vehicle sales continued to increase, rising for the 17^th consecutive month. New commercial vehicle sales however continue to hover around the 4,800 level where it has been trending for the past year.

1,054 new vehicles were sold in March, which is 175 more than were sold in February and represents a 14.7% y/y increase from the 919 vehicles sold in March 2021. March’s sales figure is the first time since May 2019 that new vehicle sales have surpassed the 1,000 level. 2,645 new vehicles were sold during the first quarter, of which 1,375 were passenger vehicles, 1,099 light commercial vehicles, and 171 medium- and heavy commercial vehicles. By comparison, the first three months of 2021 saw 2,505 new vehicles sold. On a 12-month cumulative basis, a total of 9,568 new vehicles were sold as at March 2022, representing an increase of 21.2% y/y from the 7,896 sold over the comparative period a year ago, although it should be noted that this growth rate has been slowing since December last year.

529 new passenger vehicles were sold during March, an increase of 20.5% m/m from the 439 sold in February, and an increase of 44.5% y/y from the 366 vehicles sold in March 2021. Year-to-date, passenger vehicle sales rose to 1,375 in the first quarter, 21.6% higher than during the same period in 2021 and 45.0% higher than the first quarter of 2020. On a 12-month cumulative basis, new passenger vehicle sales have increased by 39.3% y/y to 4,728.

A total of 525 new commercial vehicles were sold in March, a representing an increase of 18.2% m/m but a decline of 5.1% y/y. The month-on-month increase was driven by a strong increase in light commercial vehicle sales, while both the medium- and heavy commercial vehicle subcategories recorded fewer sales than the preceding month. Light commercial vehicle sales fell 4.9% y/y, medium commercial vehicle sales dropped by 37.5% y/y while heavy commercial vehicle sales rose by 13.2% y/y.  On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales have increased by 3.3% y/y to 4,083, medium commercial vehicles rose by 20.6% y/y to 193, and heavy commercial vehicles climbed by 44.6% y/y to 564.

Toyota continue to enjoy a strong lead in the new passenger vehicle sales segment, claiming 38.9% of the on a year-to-date basis, followed by Volkswagen with a 19.3% share and slightly up from the previous month. They were followed by Kia and Suzuki with 7.3% and 4.9% of the market, respectively, leaving the remaining 29.5% of the market to other brands.

On a year-to-date basis, Toyota remained the leader in the light commercial vehicle space with a 60.9% market share and an increase from the previous month. Nissan came in second place claiming a market share of 10.3%, also slightly higher than in the previous month. Hino remain the leader in the medium commercial vehicle space claiming 36.1% of the market share, followed by Toyota with a market share of 19.4%. Scania remained number one in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 30.4% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line  

As mentioned earlier, March’s sales figure is the first time since May 2019, that monthly new vehicle sales have surpassed the 1,000 level. It is worth noting that March new vehicle sales generally have a seasonal effect of being slightly higher than the surrounding months. Due to this seasonal effect, we expect to see monthly new vehicle sales to return to the levels witnessed in the last 18 months. On a 12-month cumulative basis, new passenger vehicle sales continued to increase, rising for the 16th consecutive month. On a monthly basis, new commercial vehicle sales encouragingly continued to tick up for a third consecutive month, although the March seasonal effect likely played a role here as well. 12-month cumulative new commercial vehicle sales have remained steady at the 4,100 level since April last year.