Vehicle sales broke a two consecutive month decline in November 2022, rising by 38.4% y/y in November 2022, a report released by Simonis Storm reveals.
On a monthly basis, vehicle sales increased by 4.9% m/m in November 2022, compared to -2.2% m/m in October 2022.
“A total of 1,045 units were sold in November 2022, higher than the long run average of 840 units. Medium and light commercial vehicles recorded the largest annual increases in units sold, and extra-heavy commercial vehicle was the only category which recorded a decline in units sold,” the report notes.
Passenger vehicle sales have surpassed sales levels of 2019 however, commercial vehicle sales have only reached 90.0% of 2019’s sales levels.
“After having peaked with 2,150 units sold in March 2015, vehicle sales have trended lower and now average 906 units per month YTD (January to November). Government commenced its fiscal consolidation plans in 2015 and this could explain a portion of the major decline in vehicle sales since then,” adds the report.
Global car production totalled 57 billion units in 2021, compared to 73 billion in 2017.
“While we do not have monthly data for 2022, various news articles and reports from listed car manufacturers indicate that car production across most key manufacturers have decline in recent months. Lower global car production would further constrain Namibia’s imports of motor vehicles which still remain below pre-pandemic levels. However, commercial vehicle imports have improved since July 2022.
“We are cautiously positive on vehicle sales in 2023. A number of local dealerships still have large back logs of orders from customers as a result of limited supply of new vehicles coming to Namibia. In our previous report we did indicate that new vehicle prices might start showing signs of moderation in early 2023 due to declining commodity prices – a trend we expect to persist into mid-2023. Lower commodity – specifically metal – prices together with a stronger Rand exchange rate might lead to a slowdown in new vehicle price hikes by local dealerships in 2023,” concludes the report.