Vehicle sales decrease by 23,5%

WINDHOEK, Aug. 17 – Namibian vehicle sales contracted by 23,5% year-to-date at the end of July 2017 to 15 523 units compared to a contraction of 16,6% year-to-date in July 2016.
However, on a monthly basis, overall vehicle sales picked up by 10,3% to 1 346 units. This was particularly reflected in the category of light commercial vehicles supported by continued stronger demand in the rental market, as Namibia’s tourist season continues
8 178 vehicles have been sold to date, which is 22% less than the preceding period in 2016. 3 578 were passenger vehicles, 4 198 were light commercial vehicles and 402 were medium or heavy commercial vehicles.

Meanwhile, passenger car sales decreased by 15,7% yearly, to 533 cars, while commercial vehicle sales have declined by 10,9% yearly.
Of the 813 commercial vehicles sold in July, 771 were classified as light, 12 as medium and 30 as heavy.
Heavy commercial vehicle sales contracted by 50,8% yearly after showing an up-tick of 66% yearly in June, which provided some optimism as increased capital spending pointed toward improving business confidence.
Installment credit, which is mainly used to finance vehicle purchases, has slowed considerably. Installment credit advances constricted by 0,7% yearly in June, entering negative territory for the first time in our database.

“While we note a moderate rebound in vehicle sales, we believe that this reflects a seasonal pattern and should not be construed as a reflection of an improvement in economic conditions, locally, as Private Sector Credit Extension continues to trend downwards. We thus expect overall vehicle sales to return on its downward spiral by the beginning of 4Q2017 as the Namibia tourist season ends,” said Frans Uusiku, an economist with Simonis Storm Securities. – Sharma Mundingi