Category Archives: Vehicle Sales

593 New vehicles were sold in August, an 11.0% m/m contraction from the 666 vehicles sold in July, and a 26.6% y/y decline from the 808 new vehicles sold in August 2019. Year-to-date 4,776 vehicles have been sold of which 1,962 were passenger vehicles, 2,479 were light commercial vehicles, and 218 were were medium and heavy commercial vehicles. On an annual basis, twelve-month cumulative new vehicle sales continued on a downward trend with 8,142 new vehicles sold over the last twelve months, a 25.0% y/y contraction from the corresponding period last year.

A total of 205 new passenger vehicles were sold during August, representing a 9.7% m/m and 43.1% y/y contraction. Year-to-date passenger vehicle sales rose to 1,962 units, down 39.0% when compared to the year-to-date figure recorded in August 2019. On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger vehicle sales are at their lowest level since July 2004, highlighting the severity of the slowdown in sales.

Commercial vehicles sales reflect a similar picture, declining by 26.4% year-to-date and 21.7% y/y on a rolling 12-month basis. 388 New commercial vehicles were sold in August, a contraction of 11.6% m/m and 13.4% y/y. 323 Light commercial vehicles, 21 medium commercial vehicles, and 44 heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicles were sold during the month. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales dropped by 23.1% y/y, medium commercial vehicle sales fell 11.8% y/y, and heavy commercial vehicle sales contracted by 10.2% y/y. 

During the month, Toyota retook the lead from Volkswagen in terms of year-to-date market share of new passenger vehicles sold. Toyota claimed 28.7% of the market, followed closely by Volkswagen with 28.3% of the market. They were followed by Kia and Hyundai with 6.5% and 6.0% of the market respectively, while the rest of the passenger vehicle market was shared by several other competitors.

Toyota remained the leader in the light commercial vehicle space with a robust 57.2% market share, with Nissan in second place with a 12.7% share. Ford and Isuzu claimed 10.9% and 7.5%, respectively, of the number of light commercial vehicles sold thus far in 2020. Mercedes leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 29.1% of sales year-to-date. Scania was number one in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 24.3% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line

The new vehicle sales figures show how badly economic activity has been hampered since the lockdowns were imposed. New vehicle sales are down considerably when compared to 2019, which by itself was a bad year for vehicle sales. We expect the current depressed trend in new vehicle sales to remain depressed for the medium term as there are currently very few catalysts for economic growth. It is unlikely that many businesses and consumers will be in a financial position to purchase new vehicles for the rest of the year.

A total of 666 new vehicles were sold in July, representing a 13.2% m/m decrease from the 767 new vehicles sold in June, and a 26.3% y/y decline from the 904 new vehicles sold in July 2019. Year-to-date 4,182 vehicles have been sold of which 1,757 were passenger vehicles, 2,156 were light commercial vehicles, and 270 were medium and heavy commercial vehicles. This is 32.8% lower than the total number of new vehicles sold during the same period last year. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, vehicle sales continued to dwindle with a total of 8,357 new vehicle sold as at July 2020, down 24.8% from the 11,119 sold over the comparable period a year ago, and the lowest since June 2005.

227 New passenger vehicles were sold during July, declining by 34.2% m/m. On a year-on-year basis new passenger vehicle sales were 40.6% lower than the 382 units sold in July 2019. Year-to-date passenger vehicle sales rose to 1,757, down 38.4% when compared to the number sold during the same period last year. Twelve-month cumulative passenger vehicle sales fell 4.3% m/m and 27.1% y/y. The demand for new passenger vehicles thus remains very low on the back of the weak economic climate.

A total of 439 new commercial vehicles were sold in July, representing a 4.0% m/m increase, but a 15.9% y/y contraction. This has been the third consecutive month of increases in new commercial vehicle sales which is somewhat encouraging, although the previous two increases were from a low base and the sales figures are still a far cry from those seen five to six years ago. Of the 439 commercial vehicles sold in July, 390 were classified as light commercial vehicles, 14 as medium commercial vehicles and 35 as heavy or extra heavy commercial vehicles. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales dropped 24.1% y/y, medium commercial vehicle sales fell 6.3%, and heavy commercial vehicle sales contracted by 19.9% y/y. This is the first time since September 2018 that all three these categories have recorded a decrease on a twelve-month cumulative basis.

Volkswagen continues to narrowly lead the passenger vehicle sales segment with 29.5% of the segment sales year-to-date. Toyota retained second place with 29.2% of the market share as at the end of July. They were followed by Kia and Hyundai with 6.4% and 5.6% of the market respectively, while the rest of the passenger vehicle market was shared by several other competitors.

Toyota remained the leader in the light commercial vehicle space with a dominant 56.4% market share, with Nissan in second place with a 13.4% market share. Ford and Isuzu claimed 10.6% and 7.7%, respectively, of the number of light commercial vehicles sold thus far in 2020. Mercedes leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 31.3% of sales year-to-date. Mercedes was also number one in the heavy and extra-heavy vehicle segment with 21.3% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line

As expected, the demand for new vehicles remained sluggish in July with only 666 new vehicles sold during the month. New vehicle sales figures are currently trending at levels last seen in 2005. The figures suggest that that vehicle owners are either holding on to the vehicles they already own or are purchasing second hand and imported vehicles. We expect this to remain the case for the medium term as there is currently little indication that economic conditions will improve any time soon. On a rolling 12-month basis new vehicle sales are down 63.1% from the peak in April 2015, and down 24.8% y/y.

767 New vehicles were sold in June, an increase of 62.8% m/m from the 471 new vehicles sold in May. However, this is a decrease of 21.5% y/y from the 977 new vehicles sold in June 2019. Year-to-date 3,517 vehicles have been sold, of which 1,530 were passenger vehicles, 1,766 were light commercial vehicles, and 221 were medium and heavy commercial vehicles. On a rolling 12-month basis, a total of 8,595 new vehicles were sold as at June 2020, representing a contraction of 24.7% from the 11,412 sold over the comparable period a year ago.

345 New passenger vehicles were sold during June, increasing by 56.8% m/m, although this increase is from a low base. On a year-on-year basis, June’s new passenger vehicle sales were 8.7% lower than the 378 vehicles sold a year ago. Year-to-date passenger vehicle sales rose to 1,530 units, down 38.1% when compared to the number sold in the first half of last year. Twelve-month cumulative passenger vehicle sales fell 0.9% m/m and 27.3% y/y. Passenger vehicles have made up 43.5% of the total number of new vehicles sold in the first six months of 2020, compared to 46.4% in the same period last year.

A total of 422 new commercial vehicles were sold in June, representing a 68.1% m/m increase, but a 29.5% y/y contraction. The monthly increase is again from a low base. Of the 422 commercial vehicles sold in June, 386 were classified as light commercial vehicles, 12 as medium commercial vehicles and 24 as heavy or extra heavy commercial vehicles. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales dropped 24.6% y/y, while medium commercial vehicle sales rose 6.1% y/y, and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell by 13.7% y/y. While medium- and heavy commercial vehicles continue to record growth on a twelve-month cumulative basis, the light segment of the market continues to see lower volumes sold than in 2019.

Volkswagen narrowly leads the passenger vehicle sales segment with 30.4% of the segment sales year-to-date. Toyota retained second place with 29.5% of the market share as at the end of June. They were followed by Kia and Hyundai with 6.5% and 5.6% of the market respectively, while the rest of the passenger vehicle market was shared by several other competitors.

Toyota, with a strong market share of 56.4% year-to-date commands the light commercial vehicle sales segment. Nissan remains in the second position in the segment with 13.7% of the market, while Ford makes up third place with 10.3% of the year-to-date sales. Mercedes leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 31.7% of sales year-to-date and remains number one in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 22.3% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line

June saw the number of new vehicles sales increasing quite substantially on a monthly basis. However, as pointed out earlier in this report, this increase is from a relatively low base as vehicle sales are merely recovering after very low activity during lockdown. In the first half of this year, new vehicle sales are down 33.9% y/y compared to the same period in 2019. We expect new vehicle sales to remain under pressure and do not foresee any substantial increases in the number sold for at least the rest of the year, as economic conditions are expected to remain weak.