Executive summary
- New vehicle sales increased to 1054 vehicles for March 2022 from 883 vehicles sold in February 2022. See figure 1.
- An increase in new vehicles sales for March 2022 was mainly driven by high sales of light commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles, and extra-heavy vehicles
- New Light commercial vehicle sales increased by 27% in relation to February 2022
- Passenger vehicle sales increased by 21% in relation to February 2022
- Extra-heavy commercial vehicles declined by 37% in relation to February 2022
- A total of 2642 new vehicles were sold during the first three months of the year 2022
Analysis
- On an annual basis, new vehicle sales recorded a growth of 4.15% from the 2.94% growth rate recorded in March 2021 (See figure 2). This came as a result of elevated demand for new vehicles augmented by an upturn in consumers’ confidence
- Light commercial vehicle sales increased to 467 from 366 recorded for February 2022. This could have been driven by an adjustment in preference for light commercial operations for the country
- The number of new passenger vehicles sold for March 2022 increased to 529 from 439 vehicles sold in February 2022. This is an indication that individuals’ and businesses’ confidence could be returning
- Extra-heavy vehicle sales declined to 31 from 49 vehicles sold in February 2022. This can be attributed to subdued activities for extra heavy commercial operations.
Figure 1: Monthly Vehicle Sales (March 2021 – March 2022), Namibia
Source: Lightstone (Pty) Ltd & HEI RESEARCH
Figure 2: Year on Year, Vehicle sales growth (March 2021-March 2022), Namibia
Source: Lightstone (Pty) Ltd & HEI RESEARCH
Outlook
- The overall consumer confidence is on the recovery path although at a very slow pace. This is due to the global economic challenges that pose a risk to economic activities and the entire transport sector.
- We project that new vehicle sales will moderate in the medium term. This is exacerbated by the recent increase in the repo rate, which will in turn result in a decline in demand to take up credit to purchase new vehicles.