Category Archives: Vehicle Sales

897 New vehicles were sold in February, an increase of 28.4% m/m from the 694 vehicles sold in January, and a 11.7% y/y increase from the 798 sold in February 2020. For the first two months of 2021 1,585 new vehicles have been sold, of which 764 were passenger vehicles, 703 light commercial vehicles, and 118 medium and heavy commercial vehicles. By comparison, the first two months of 2020 saw 1,470 new vehicles sold. 2021 is thus off to a slightly better start compared to last year. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, a total of 7,729 new vehicles were sold as at February 2021, representing a contraction of 26.0% from the 10,442 sold over the comparable period a year ago.

A total of 409 new passenger vehicles were sold during February, increasing by 15.2% from the 355 passenger vehicles sold in January. On a year-on-year basis, February new passenger vehicle sales 18.2% higher than the 346 vehicles sold a year ago. Year-to-date, passenger vehicle sales rose to 764, 19.6% higher than during the same period in 2020. On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger vehicle sales rose to 3,338, its highest level since April 2020. After three consecutive months of increases in this measure, early signs do seem to indicate as if the trough has been reached in the new passenger vehicle market.

A total of 482 new commercial vehicles were sold in February, representing an increase of 42.2% m/m and 6.6% y/y. 402 Light commercial vehicles, 13 medium commercial vehicles, and 67 heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicles were sold during the month. Light commercial vehicle sales rose 4.1% y/y, medium commercial vehicle sales dropped 38.1% y/y and heavy commercial vehicle sales increased by 48.9% y/y. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales have declined by 25.5% y/y, medium commercial vehicles fell by 41.8% y/y, and heavy commercial vehicles dropped 24.9% y/y.

Volkswagen enjoys a strong lead in the passenger vehicle sales segment with 40.3% of the segment sales year-to-date, followed by Toyota with 21.6% of the market share. The two top brands maintained their large gap over the rest of the market with Kia and Mercedes following with 6.0% and 5.5% of the market, respectively, leaving the remaining 26.6% of the market to other brands.

On a year-to-date basis, Toyota remained the leader in the light commercial vehicle space with a 51.5% market share, with Nissan in second place with a 14.9% market share. Ford and Isuzu claimed 12.7% and 6.5%, respectively, of the number of light commercial vehicles sold thus far in 2021. Hino leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 27.3% of sales year-to-date, while Scania was number one in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 33.3% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line

February’s new vehicle sales figure of 891 was the highest number since October 2019, when 971 new vehicles were sold. The rolling 12-month number of new vehicle sales showed a small uptick for the second consecutive month to 7,729. The increase in new cumulative passenger vehicle sales is especially encouraging as it could indicate a slight increase in consumer confidence, although it is still early days. The growth in the last couple of months was likely driven by the extension of the payback period on vehicle financing from 54 months to 72 months in September 2020. . The growth is however from a very low base and overall 12-month cumulative sales is still down 66.4% from its peak in April 2015.

A total of 694 new vehicles were sold in January, which is 6 cars fewer than were sold in December, but represents a 3.3% y/y increase from the 672 new vehicles sold in January 2020. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, a total of 7,636 new vehicles were sold up to the end of January 2021, representing a contraction of 26.5% from the 10,395 new vehicles sold over the same 12 month period a year ago. 2021 is thus off to a slightly better start than January 2020, however, new vehicle sales remain sluggish.

355 new passenger vehicles were sold during January, an increase of 7.6% m/m from the 330 passenger vehicles sold in December, and 21.6% higher y/y from the 292 new passenger vehicles sold in January 2020. On a rolling 12-month basis, new passenger vehicle sales rose 2.0% m/m, but are down 27.2% y/y at the end of January. 12-month cumulative passenger vehicle sales were down 66.7% from the peak in April 2015.

Commercial vehicle sales declined to 339 units in January, representing a contraction of 8.4% m/m and 10.8% y/y. During the month 301 light commercial vehicles, 9 medium commercial vehicles, and 29 heavy commercial vehicles were sold. On a year-on-year basis, light commercial sales fell by 10.1% y/y, medium commercial vehicle dropped by 35.7% y/y, and heavy and extra heavy vehicle sales declined by 6.5% y/y. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales contracted by 25.3% y/y, medium commercial vehicles declined by 37.2% y/y and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell by 27.3% y/y.

Volkswagen started the year off on a strong foot with a 41.4% market share of new passenger vehicles sold, followed by Toyota with a 25.1% market share. They were followed by Kia and Mercedes who each had a 6.5% market share, while the rest of the passenger vehicle market was shared by several other competitors.

Toyota meanwhile started the year off with a solid grip on the light commercial vehicle market with a 55.1% market share, with Nissan in second place with a 13.3% market share. Ford and Volkswagen claimed 11.3% and 5.0% of the number of new light commercial vehicles sold during the month, respectively. Iveco led the medium commercial vehicle category with 33.3% of sales, while Scania was number one in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 27.6% of the market share during the month.

The Bottom Line

New passenger vehicle sales started the year off stronger than in 2020, with passenger vehicle sales increasing by 21.6% y/y. This uptick in sales did not pass through to commercial vehicle sales which had a poor start and contracted by 10.8% y/y. While new vehicle sales in January were higher than the first month of the past two years, it remains considerably lower than the numbers recorded between 2012 and 2016. The likelihood of a recovery in 2021 to the levels witnessed during that period seems very low currently. We expect businesses to hold on to their current fleets for as long as possible and for consumers to mostly stick to the pre-owned market, seeing that there are very few economic growth prospects at present.

700 New vehicles were sold in December, 1 more than the upward revised 699 in November, but a 2.0% y/y decrease from the 714 new vehicles sold in December 2019. Year-to-date 7,614 vehicles have been sold, a 26.8% contraction from December last year and the lowest annual vehicle sales figure since 2004. Of the 7,614 new vehicles sold during the year, 3,212 were passenger vehicles, 3,869 were light commercial vehicles, and 533 were medium and heavy commercial vehicles.

A total of 330 new passenger vehicles were sold during December, representing a 2.9% m/m contraction, but a 5.1% y/y increase. 3,212 passenger vehicles were sold in 2020, a 29.4% decline from 2019 and lower annual sales than the preceding 16 years. Passenger vehicle sales made up 42.2% of the total number of new vehicles sold during 2020 broadly in line with the trend over the last 6 years.

370 new commercial vehicles were sold in December, an increase of 3.1% m/m, but a 7.5% y/y contraction. During the month 315 light commercial vehicles, 13 medium commercial vehicles, and 42 heavy commercial vehicles were sold. On a year-on-year basis, light commercial sales have declined by 6.0%, medium commercial vehicles fell 38.1% and heavy and extra heavy vehicles sales contracted 4.5%. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales dropped 24.2% y/y, medium commercial vehicle sales fell 35.3% y/y and heavy commercial vehicle sales contracted by 25.4%.

Toyota lead the market for new passenger vehicle sales in 2020, claiming 28.6% of the market, followed by Volkswagen with a 25.5% share. They were followed by Kia and Hyundai at 6.8% and 5.8%, respectively. The only other manufacturer that managed to breach the 5% market share mark was Mercedes-Benz with 5.3% of the market, leaving the remaining 27.9% of the market to other brands.

Toyota also remained the leader in the light commercial vehicle space in 2020 with 56.0% market share, with Nissan in second place with a 12.9% market share. Ford and Isuzu claimed 12.3% and 6.7% respectively of the number of new light commercial vehicles sold for the year. Mercedes lead the medium commercial category with 32.0% of sales while Volvo Trucks was number one in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 21.6% of the market share during the year.

The Bottom Line

2020 was a dismal year for vehicle sales. The cumulative number of new vehicle sales for the year amounted to 7,614, a decline of 26.8% from the cumulative number of vehicles sold in 2019 and a 66.4% contraction from the peak of 22,664 new vehicle sales recorded in April 2015 on a cumulative 12-month basis. The year-to-date sales graph at the top of this report shows how severely the new vehicle industry was impacted by the lockdown in April. The recovery since then has been slow and overall new vehicle sales have still not returned to the already low levels of 2019. The introduction of the longer-dated 72-month vehicle loans has had a small positive impact on new passenger vehicle sales, but not enough to offset the damage done by lockdowns. With there being few signs that 2021 will see significant economic growth, we expect new vehicle sales to remain under pressure.