Toyota dominates Namibian market with 50% of total sales – Business Express

Toyota remains the leader in the Namibian automotive industry, accounting for 50% of total sales, a latest automotive report by Simonis Storm reveals.

Volkswagen follows with a meagre 11% of the market share, while Ford accounts for 7%.

“Consumer demand for Toyota vehicles outperform the market, mainly due to its reliability and longevity aspects which are cheered by market participants,” the firm said in commentary.

In October 2023, new vehicle sales marked the fourth consecutive month of decline, totalling only 922 units – a 12.5% m/m reduction, following a 4.3% m/m decrease is September. On an annual basis, vehicle sales declined by 7.5% y/y in October 2023, this is the first time sales have decreased since July 2022 (↓ 15.4% y/y). This month’s figure is the second lowest for the year, with January recording the lowest at 807 units sold. In October 2023, the sales performance in the automotive sector exhibited contractions both on a monthly and annual basis.

Passenger vehicle sales underwent a decline of 15.9% m/m, while commercial vehicle sales also experienced a contraction of 9.1% m/m. On an annual basis, the contraction persisted, with passenger vehicle sales decreasing by 4.9% y/y and commercial vehicle sales declining by 9.8% y/y during the same month.

YTD sales show healthier signs of economic activity and consumption spending, having reached 10,774 vehicles, an increase of 20.7% from the 8,929 vehicles sold between January and October in the same period in 2022. Although annual and monthly sales look bearish in October, YTD sales show improved economic activity for 2023 thus far, which is mainly due to increased tourism activity.

Light commercial vehicles, comprising 425 units, contracted by 4.9% y/y. Furthermore, all other categories of commercial vehicles, excluding buses, witnessed contractions in October 2023. Medium commercial vehicles, with a recorded 20 units, experienced a significant contraction of 16.7% y/y. Heavy commercial vehicles and extra-heavy commercial vehicles faced more substantial contractions, declining by 33.3% y/y and 30.3% y/y, respectively. In contrast, buses demonstrated a noteworthy positive trend, with a 100% y/y growth, recording the sale of two new units during October 2023.