New Vehicle Sales – June 2021

843 new vehicles were sold in June, an increase of 6.4% m/m from the 790 vehicles sold in May. The first half of 2021 has observed a total of 4,893 total vehicle sales, of which 2,277 were passenger vehicles, 2,218 light commercial vehicles, and 398 medium and heavy commercial vehicles. By comparison, the first half of 2020 saw 3,516 new vehicles sold. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, a total of 8,991 new vehicles were sold as at June 2021, representing a 4.4% expansion from the 8,609 sold over the comparable period a year ago.

A total of 430 new passenger vehicles were sold during June, a 20.1% increase from the 358 passenger vehicles sold in May. Year-to-date, 2,277 passenger vehicles have been sold, which translates to a 48.9% increase from the same period in 2020. On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger vehicle sales rose to 3,958, 9.3% higher than in June 2020.

A total of 413 new commercial vehicles were sold in June, representing a decline of 4.4% m/m. 3,311 Light commercial vehicles, 19 medium commercial vehicles, and 63 heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicles were sold during the month. Light commercial vehicle sales dropped 10.8% m/m, medium commercial vehicle sales rose 26.7% m/m, and heavy commercial vehicle sales increased by 37.0% m/m. On a twelve-month cumulative basis, light commercial vehicle sales have declined by 0.3% y/y, medium commercial vehicles fell by 21.8% y/y, and heavy commercial vehicles increased by 27.1% y/y, although the increase is from a very low base.

Toyota surpassed Volkswagen in terms of year-to-date market share of new passenger vehicles sold, recording a 29.0% market share. Volkswagen dropped to second place with a 28.3% market share, compared to the 31.2% share in May. Kia and Hyundai followed, with 8.6% and 5.8% of the market, respectively, leaving the remaining 28.3% of the market to other brands.

On a year-to-date basis, Toyota maintained its dominance in the light commercial vehicle space with a 53.8% market share, Ford climbed to second place with 13.5% of the market, followed by Nissan, with a market share of 13.4%. Mercedes leads the medium commercial vehicle segment with 32.0% of sales year-to-date. Scania remained number one in the heavy and extra-heavy commercial vehicle segment with 25.5% of the market share year-to-date.

The Bottom Line

June was a respectable month for new vehicle sales, despite a raging third wave of Covid-19 infections in the country, coupled with the introduction of new lockdown restrictions. An average of 379 new passenger vehicles were sold per month in the first half of 2021, which is well above the average of 254 in the comparable period of 2020, but still trails slightly below the average of 411 in the first 6 months of 2019. On the commercial front, total commercial vehicle sales in the first half of the year are 31.7% higher than the comparable period in 2020, with light and medium commercial vehicle sales increasing by 25.6% and 22.0% year-on-year, respectively, while heavy commercial vehicle sales recorded the largest increase of 114.4% y/y. Despite these increases, the commercial sector lags well behind the comparable period’s 10-year pre-Covid-19 average (2010-2019) when total new commercial vehicle sales were 50.1% higher than they are now. Overall, this reflects a long path to recovery in the commercial sector.