Africa-Press – Namibia. A REDUCTION in global production and subsequent local shortages in import deliveries contributed to the rise in vehicle prices in recent months, spiking 10,5% year on year last month, and rising by an average 9,2% this year.
According to a report by Simonis Storm Securities, spare parts and vehicle service charges also increased by 6,8% year on year in September 2021 due to similar supply constraints, and on average they increased by 4,2% this year.
“Buying and maintaining a vehicle has, therefore, become a more costly consideration,” the report states.
Last month 767 vehicles were sold, compared to 762 vehicles sold in the prior month, and 874 vehicles sold a year ago, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers South Africa says.
Vehicle sales decreased by 12,2% year on year, and marginally increased by 0,7% month on month in September this year. “The annual increase was mainly driven by increased purchases of extra-heavy commercial and passenger vehicles,” the report says.
Passenger and light commercial vehicles, which made up 49,5% and 39,6%, respectively, of total vehicles sold last month, decreased by 14,1% month on month, and increased by 12,4% month on month in September 2021, respectively. Year to date, annual growth in instalment credit has averaged -3,0% on a monthly basis. This could partly explain lower vehicle sales.
The value of imports of special-purpose vehicles for the transportation of goods, and personal vehicles for the transportation of people recorded a monthly decrease of 20,1%, and an increase of 90,3%, respectively, where most of the vehicles were imported from South Africa.
The total value of imported vehicles during August 2021 amounted to N$215 million for personal vehicles, and N$163 million for special-purpose vehicles. The spike in personal vehicle imports could be a result of the backlog in orders that local dealers had in recent months.
“The increase in imports from July and August has likely assisted in reducing the backlog experienced by some local dealerships in terms of vehicle delivery to clients who paid deposits a few months ago.
“We believe that once imports and delivery of new vehicles normalise, vehicle sales would remain flat to negative in Namibia. The constrained supply of vehicles being imported would likely persist for the next couple of months.
“Depending on each consumer’s needs, we may see further shifts from the new vehicle to the second-hand vehicle market as a result of delayed import deliveries,” Simonis Storm says.
