Toyota dominates new vehicle sales

PHILLEPUS UUSIKU

A total of 905 new vehicles were sold in April 2022, a 14.1% month-on-month contraction but an increase of 19.9% year-on-year from the 755 vehicles sold in April 2022, according to IJG Securities.

Year-to-date 3550 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% year-on-year 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, IJG said.

Simonis Storm (SS) said 2022 is off to a good start as new vehicle sales are trending above sales levels seen in the last three years.

During April 2022, Toyota dominated the market in terms of new vehicle sales market share. Toyota had 41.5% market share, Volkswagen (13.5%), both Ford and KIA (6%) and both Suzuki and Nissan (5.9%).

These six brands accounted for 78.8% of total vehicle sales during April 2022. See long-term trends in units sold per brand for the top six brands who had the highest market share over the last two years, SS pointed out.

Certain dealerships had on average 3% price increases on new vehicles during the first quarter of 2022. “According to inflation data from the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), we see a slight uptick in the motor car category. In special cases second hand vehicle prices have surpassed prices of new vehicles due to shortages in supply. Also, average prices of spare parts and accessories and service and repair charges are trending up slightly in recent months,” SS said.

“We anticipate new vehicle sales to continue trending upwards as local demand remains resilient, despite Namibia being in an interest rate hiking cycle.”

Vehicle sales will also likely be supported by rental companies restocking their fleet levels in anticipation of rising tourist bookings and arrivals, SS [email protected]