Executive summary
- New vehicle sales declined to 705 vehicles for January 2022 from 734 vehicles sold in December 2021. See figure 1.
- A decline in new vehicles sales for January 2022 was mainly driven by low sales of light commercial vehicles and extra-heavy vehicles
- New Light commercial vehicle sales declined by 15% when compared to December 2021
- Extra-heavy commercial vehicles sales declined by 54% in relation to the previous month
- Passenger vehicle sales increased by 11% when compared to sales made in December 2021
Analysis
- On an annual basis new vehicle sales recorded a growth of 7.18% from (-17.30%), (See figure 2). This was influenced by improvements in consumers’ confidence
- Light commercial vehicle sales declined to 266 from 315 recorded in December 2021. This came as a result of subdued commercial activities at the back of the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on consumers’ and businesses’ spending patterns.
- The number of new passenger vehicles sold for January 2022 increased to 404 from 362 vehicles sold in December 2021. This was due to minimal improvements in income levels
- Extra-heavy vehicle sales declined to 15 from 33 vehicles sold in December 2021. This was influenced by low demand for heavy goods transportation services as a result of logistical disruptions
Outlook
- We project that new vehicle sales for February 2022 will increase albeit at a very slow pace
Figure 1: Monthly vehicle sales (January 2021-January 2022)
Source: Lightstone (Pty) Ltd & HEI RESEARCH
Figure 2: Year on Year, Vehicle sales growth (January 2021-January 2022), Namibia
Source: Lightstone (Pty) Ltd & HEI RESEARCH