In 2022, a total of 10,923 vehicle units were sold in Namibia, a 15.9% increase compared to the 9,427 units sold in 2021 and exceeding the 10,415 units sold in 2019.
This was despite Namibia being in an interest rate hiking cycle and high commodity prices and shipping costs, together with a weak Rand exchange rate, leading to an average of 5% increase in vehicle prices across different brands during 2022.
Higher-end brands increased their sales during the period by 24.1% y/y on average with Land Rover sales increasing by 127.9% y/y in 2022 (most likely a from a low base), Audi 21%, Mercedes 10.9% and Jeep 7.1%.
Medium- to lower-end brands, sales increased by 12.6% y/y, with Haval recording a 24.9% jump in sales, the largest increase in units sold during 2022.
Kia sales recorded a 24.2% increase, Toyota 14.9%, Nissan 10.7% and Ford sales increased by 7.1%.
Honda sales in Namibia in 2022 recorded the biggest drop, plummeted by 27.3% followed by Mazda -25.6%, Volvo -25%, Jaguar -20%BMW -2.6%, Volkswagen -1.4% and Hyundai registering a negative growth of -0.3% in sales.
According research firm, Simonis Storm, the country’s annual vehicle sales were split 51% for passenger vehicles and 49% commercial vehicles.
“This provides an indication of some job recovery that took place in 2022 supported by medical aid data from Namfisa and that spending power remains surprisingly resilient to an extent as car brands across different income levels on average recorded an increase in sales during 2022,” Simonis Storm Economist Theo Klein said.
“An improvement in vehicle sales also came about despite local dealerships battling with supply chain issues which has led to major backlogs in customer orders. Also, banks are viewed as being risk averse, given that numerous car loan applications were rejected for customers trying to buy vehicles from low- to high-end brands. Indeed, vehicle sales would have been higher in the absence of these constraints.”
Expectations for new-vehicle sales in 2023
Klein forecast vehicle sales to remain on an upward trajectory in 2023, driven by commercial vehicles.
“With the expectation that supply of new vehicles from overseas factories should improve from mid-2023 onwards, together with a continued momentum in spending from last year, we do expect vehicle sales to remain on an upward trend in 2023.
“Commercial vehicles in particular could see improved sales figures owing to favourable mining and transport sector growth forecasts for 2023, as well as construction of green hydrogen projects at the coast,” he said.
“We do expect the interest rate hiking cycle to come to an end by 1Q2023 in Namibia. These factors combined should hopefully put a limit on new vehicle price increases to some extent and maintain affordability for local customers.”
