Category Archives: Vehicle Sales

A total of 971 new vehicles were sold in October, representing a 20.5% m/m increase from the 806 vehicles sold in September. Year-to-date, 8,812 new vehicles have been sold of which 3,889 were passenger vehicles, 4,299 were light commercial vehicles, and 624 were medium and heavy commercial vehicles. This is the highest number of new vehicles sold recorded over the last four months. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, new vehicle sales continued its downward trend. 10,739 new vehicles were sold over the last twelve months, a 9.1% contraction from the previous twelve months.

355 new passenger vehicles were sold in October, an increase of 10.9% m/m, but contracting by 12.1% y/y. Year-to-date new passenger vehicle sales rose to 3,889 units, down 11.2% when compared to the year-to-date figure recorded in October 2018. Twelve-month cumulative passenger vehicle sales fell 10.5% y/y as the number of passenger vehicles sold continued to decline.

A total of 616 new commercial vehicles were sold in October, increasing by 26.7% m/m and 21.3% y/y. Of the 616 new commercial vehicles sold in October, 536 were classified as light commercial vehicles, 25 as medium commercial vehicles and 55 as heavy or extra heavy commercial vehicles. 408  heavy vehicles were sold year-to-date, the highest sales figure for the period since October 2016. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales dropped 9.9% y/y, while medium commercial vehicle sales and heavy commercial vehicles rose 2.1% y/y and 13.3% y/y, respectively.  For the sixth consecutive month, there has been an increase in the sale of heavy commercial vehicles on a 12 month cumulative year-on-year basis. The steady increase in this category indicates improved demand for durable goods by businesses.

Volkswagen continues to lead the passenger vehicle sales segment with 30.4% of the segment sales year-to-date. Toyota remained in second place with 29.0% of the market-share as at the end of October. Kia, Mercedes, Hyundai and Ford each command around 5% of the market in the passenger vehicles segment, leaving the remaining 20.1% of the market to other brands.

Toyota retains a strong year-to-date market share of 58.7% and remains the market leader in the light commercial vehicle segment. Nissan remains in second position in the segment with 11.8% of the market, while Ford makes up third place with 8.9% of the year-to-date sales. Hino leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 37.5% of sales year-to-date, while Scania was number one in the heavy- and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 37.3% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line

Vehicle sales remain under pressure, with the year-to-date new vehicle sales in 2019 currently below 2010 levels, and the total new vehicle sales for the last 12 months down 9.1% from the same period in 2018. Both new commercial and new passenger vehicle sales are at their lowest year-to-date levels since 2009. However there has been an improvement in the demand for new medium and heavy commercial vehicles in 2019. Although this improvement has come off a very low base, it suggests that the sectors of the economy that rely on these categories of vehicles may have turned the corner. However, we continue to expect business and consumer confidence to remain low and thus expect subdued demand for new vehicles going forward.

A total of 806 new vehicles were sold in September, representing a 0.2% m/m decrease from the 808 vehicles sold in August. Year-to-date, 7,841 vehicles have been sold of which 3,534 were passenger vehicles, 3,763 were light commercial vehicles, and 544 were medium and heavy commercial vehicles. This is the lowest year-to-date sales witnessed since 2009. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, new vehicle sales continued its downward trend. 10,680 new vehicles were sold over the last twelve months, a 10.2% contraction from the previous twelve months and also the lowest level since 2009.

320 new passenger vehicles were sold in September, contracting by 11.1% m/m and 5.9% y/y. Year-to-date passenger vehicle sales rose to 3,534 units, down 11.1% when compared to the year-to-date figure recorded in September 2018. On an annual basis, twelve-month cumulative passenger vehicle sales fell 9.7% y/y as the number of passenger vehicles sold continued to decline.

A total of 486 new commercial vehicles were sold in September, increasing of 8.5% m/m but contracted by 24.8% y/y. Of the 486 commercial vehicles sold in September, 405 were classified as light commercial vehicles, 25 as medium commercial vehicles and 56 as heavy or extra heavy commercial vehicles. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales dropped 12.7% y/y, while medium commercial vehicle sales and heavy commercial vehicles rose 0.41% y/y and 12.3% y/y, respectively.  There has been an increase in the sale of heavy commercial vehicles on a year-to-year basis, from the 6.9% recorded in the preceding month. This illustrates a slight increase in the demand for durable goods by businesses.

Volkswagen leads the passenger vehicle sales segment with 30.4% of the segment sales year-to-date. Toyota in second place with 29.7% of the market-share as at the end of September. Kia, Mercedes, Hyundai and Ford each command around 5.0% of the market in the passenger vehicles segment, leaving the remaining 19.4% of the market to other brands.

Toyota retains a strong year-to-date market share of 58.5% and remains the market leader in the light commercial vehicle segment. Nissan remains in second position in the segment with 11.7% of the market, while Ford makes up third place with 9.3% of the year-to-date sales. Hino leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 37.2% of sales year-to-date, while Scania was number one in the heavy- and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 34.8% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line

Vehicle sales remain under pressure, with the year-to-date new vehicle sales in 2019 currently below 2010 levels, and the total new vehicle sales for the last 12 months down 10.2% from the same period in 2018. The number of vehicle sales recorded continues to decrease and any prospects of growth in the short-term remains dim. Latest data from the Namibia Statistics Agency recorded 2.6% contraction in the Namibian economy. As a result, we expect demand to remain subdued due to low consumer and business confidence.

A total of 808 new vehicles were sold in August, representing a 10.6% m/m decrease from the 904 vehicles sold in July. Year-to-date, 7,035 vehicles have been sold of which 3,214 were passenger vehicles, 3,358 were light commercial vehicles, and 463 were medium and heavy commercial vehicles. This is the lowest year-to-date sales witnessed since 2009. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, new vehicle sale continued its downward trend. 10,860 new vehicles were sold over the last twelve months, a 9.8% contraction from the previous twelve months and also the lowest level since 2009.

360 new passenger vehicles were sold in August, contracting by 5.8% m/m and 15.3% y/y. Year-to-date passenger vehicle sales rose to 3,214 units, down 11.6% when compared to the year-to-date figure recorded in August 2018. On an annual basis, twelve-month cumulative passenger vehicle sales fell 10.9% y/y as the number of passenger vehicles sold continued to decline.

A total of 448 new commercial vehicles were sold in August, representing a contraction of 14.2% m/m and 30.2% y/y. Of the 448 commercial vehicles sold in August, 389 were classified as light commercial vehicles, 26 as medium commercial vehicles and 33 as heavy or extra heavy commercial vehicles. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales dropped 10.5% y/y, while medium commercial vehicle sales and heavy commercial vehicles rose 1.7% y/y and 6.9% y/y, respectively. Heavy commercial vehicles have seen some buoyancy in the last couple of months with 190 vehicles being sold since the beginning of May 2019.

Toyota continues to lead the passenger vehicle sales segment with 30.4% of the segment sales year-to-date. Volkswagen in a close second place with 30.3% of the market-share as at the end of August. Kia, Mercedes, Hyundai and Ford each command around 4.9% of the market in the passenger vehicles segment, leaving the remaining 19.3% of the market to other brands.

Toyota with a strong market share of 58.5% year-to-date remains the market leader in the light commercial vehicle segment. Nissan remains in second position in the segment with 11.6% of the market, while Ford makes up third place with 8.8% of the year-to-date sales. Hino leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 39.2% of sales year-to-date, while Scania was number one in the heavy- and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 36.0% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line

Vehicle sales remain under pressure, with the year-to-date new vehicle sales in 2019 currently below 2010 levels, and the total new vehicle sales for the last 12 months down 9.8 from the same period in 2018. Vehicle sales is a lagging economic indicator and thus tells us little about what to expect going forward, but continues to illustrate the extent of the economic downturn. Presently, vehicle sales continue to point to low consumer and business confidence. This is evident as number of commercial vehicles sold year-to-date contracted by 14.0%, which shows a slowdown in the demand for durable goods by businesses.