Tujoromajo Kasuto
Vehicle sales broke a two consecutive months’ decline in November rising by 38.4 percent in.
On a monthly basis, vehicle sales increased by 4.9 percent in November 2022 compared to -2.2% this October. A total of 1,045 units were sold in November, higher than the long-run average of 840 units.
According to Simonis Storm Securities, medium and light commercial vehicles recorded the largest annual increases in units sold, and the extra-heavy commercial vehicle was the only category which recorded a decline in units sold.
Economist Theo Klein notes that the firm is cautiously positive on vehicle sales in 2023, as a number of local dealerships still have large backlogs on orders from customers as a result of a 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,” he says.
Meanwhile, global car production totalled 57 billion units in 2021, compared to 73 billion in 2017.
This comes as various news outlets and reports from listed car manufacturers indicate that car production across most key manufacturers has declined in recent months.
Klein says that lower global car production would further constrain Namibia’s imports of motor vehicles, which still remain below pre-pandemic levels.
However, he notes that commercial vehicle imports have improved since this July.
