Executive summary
- New vehicle sales declined to 798 vehicles for January 2023 from 952 vehicles sold in December 2022. This translated into a monthly decline of 16.2%. See figure 1
- The decline in new vehicle sales was driven by low sales for all types of vehicles in the market with the main declines recorded for the commercial vehicles market
- A total of 11 723 vehicles were sold between January 2022 and January 2023 an improvement from 10 119 vehicles sold between January 2021 and January 2022
Analysis
- On an annual basis, new vehicle sales increased by 13.2%, (See figure 2). This could have been attributed to improved consumer confidence amidst the confluence of factors that negatively influenced the demand for credit
- Passenger vehicle sales declined to 468 from 504 recorded in December 2022 as a consequence of an increase in the interest rates which led to a rise in the cost of borrowing
- Light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined significantly for January 2023 in relation to the prior month. This could have been influenced by subdued commercial activities
Figure 1: Monthly Vehicle Sales (January 2022 – January 2023), Namibia
Figure 2: Year on Year, Vehicle sales growth (January 2022- January 2023), Namibia
Outlook
- The global economic environment augmented by the confluence of factors continues to weigh on demand and supply for the retail sector. We expect vehicle sales to remain on an upward trajectory for February 2023