Africa-Press – Namibia. THE number of vehicle units sold and the annual growth in sales had broken through the six-month moving averages during March 2022.
According to a sales analysis by Simonis Storm, based on data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers South Africa (Naamsa), a total of 1 054 new vehicles were sold during March, compared to 883 in the previous month, giving a rise of 19,4% m/m and the 919 sold in March 2021 increased by 14,7% y/y.
Passenger and light commercial vehicles continue to be the bulk of new vehicle sales, accounting for 50,2% and 44,3% of total sales, respectively, in March 2022.
“On an annual basis, passenger vehicle sales increased by 44,5% y/y, light commercial vehicles dropped by 4,9% y/y, medium commercial sales went down 37,5% y/y, while heavy commercial vehicle sales rose 37,5% y/y and extra-heavy commercial vehicles rose 6,9% y/y in March 2022,” said Simonis.
During March 2022, vehicle sales were dominated by Toyota (47,5%), Volkswagen (13,2%), Nissan (5,6%), Ford (4,4%) and Kia (4,2%).
Globally, carmakers have repeatedly left factories idle due to lack of adequate semi-conductor supplies, leading to lower vehicle production. This continues to create a mismatch between supply and demand for new vehicles worldwide as demand has recovered, including in Namibia.
Toyota in Namibia has a backlog of between 600 and 700 new vehicles and are struggling to source new vehicles from global factories. New vehicle prices increased between 3% and 6% during the first quarter of 2022, with additional price increases expected during the second half of 2022.
BMW, on the other hand, has no order backlogs, but X1 and 2 series Gran Coupe orders have been affected because some of the components on these models are imported from Ukraine.
“The impact of import delays will only affect Mercedes in the second quarter of 2022, as vehicles had already been built for the first quarter prior to the war in Ukraine. Due to rising steel prices and shipping costs, various manufacturers have increased prices between 3% and 5% during the second quarter. Parts prices have increased by up to 10% due to similar reasons,” said Simonis.
The analysts added that Audi has made alternative arrangements as certain engines were produced in Russia and wiring harnesses for many models were produced in Ukraine. However, restrictions on available models to order remain, with the impact on supply to Namibia being felt for four to six months on a dealer sales level.
Audi had a 2% price increase across all models in the first quarter of 2022, with a larger price increase expected during the second quarter. Audi extra heavy commercial trucks saw a 5% price increase in the first quarter, and a 3% increase this month.
For Ford, Namibian dealership stock allocation from global factories have been reduced by 20% during the first quarter of 2022.
Ford Global distributes chips to their most lucrative markets, which lowers production for – and exports to – southern Africa.
Simonis adds that Volkswagen says ordering a new car with client specific accessories can take up to a year to arrive in Namibia. Local Touareg and Tiguan vehicles have components manufactured in Ukraine, which causes delays in imports for these models.
“Namibian consumers can expect car prices to continue rising this year, in addition to higher costs of operating vehicles, such as higher fuel and spare parts prices. In a rising interest rate environment, we also expect slightly lower demand for car loans,” Simonis added.
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