Vehicle sales in Namibia recorded a 13.2% percent decline in August with a total of 1,094 new vehicles sold compared to 1260 sold in July, latest figures show.
However, despite the decline, sales remained steady, with a year-on-year increase of 4%
According to IJG Securities data, year-to-date 8,794 new vehicles have been sold, of which 4,299 were passenger vehicles, 3,956 were light commercial vehicles, and 539 medium- and heavy commercial vehicles.
In comparison, 6,914 new vehicles were sold by August last year.
“On a 12-month cumulative, a total of 12,803 new vehicles were sold at the end of August, representing a 29.5% y/y increase from the 9,887 sold over the comparable period a year ago,” said IJG.
Toyota retained its lead in the new passenger vehicle sales segment, claiming 43.8% of the sales year-to-date, followed by Volkswagen with a 17% market share.
The two brands maintained their large gap over the rest of the market with Kia and Suzuki following with 8.9% and 4.6% of the market, respectively, leaving the remaining 25.7% of the market to other brands.
IJG noted that Toyota also continued to lead the light commercial vehicle segment, claiming 55.3% of the sales year-to-date, followed by Ford with 12.9% of the market share and Isuzu with 7.0%.
“Mercedes retained the top spot in the medium commercial vehicle segment with 38.2% market share, and Scania continues to lead the heavy- and extra heavy commercial segment with 32.2% of the sales Year-to-date,” revealed the company’s vehicle sales report.
Meanwhile Cirrus Capital, Equity Analyst Jason Swartz revealed that year-to-date, 2023 new vehicle sales continue to be the highest it has been since 2018.
Swartz added that this can be attributed to the improved economic environment with certain sectors contributing greatly (for example, mining and financial institutions.)
Commercial vehicles contributed 54.1% of new vehicles sold in Aug 2023 and increased by 11.3% y/y but decreased by 4.8% m/m.
“Comparatively passenger vehicles decreased 21.3% m/m and 3.3% y/y. Despite the decrease in August 2023, vehicle sales prove to be resilient despite the higher interest rates and increasing vehicle prices in 2023,” he added.
Commercial vehicle sales came in at 592 units, lower than the 740 units sold in June 2023 and 622 units sold in July 2023.
The Cirrus Capital report shows that the most popular commercial vehicle was the Toyota Hilux with 240 units sold and the second most popular model with 64 units sold was the Ford Ranger.
Meanwhile, a total of 502 passenger vehicle sales were recorded in August 2023, the third worst sales in the year and below the 12-month average sales of 525 units.
