Mauritius vehicles market falls due to the global pandemic affecting sales. Indeed, Full Year 2020 sales are 7.854, down 23.5% compared to 2019. Leader Nissan (-21%) is closely followed by Toyota (-19.7%), distant only a few units.
Economic Environment
Real GDP growth was moderate yet steady, averaging 3.8% during 2015–19. Growth was mainly driven by financial services, retail and wholesale trade, and information and communications technology.
The accommodative monetary policy of the Bank of Mauritius has been widely considered appropriate in view of recent low inflation. Fiscal policy was expansionary over 2015–19: government spending is dominated by recurrent spending, but the public wage bill is increasing, and a more generous universal pension scheme has been introduced. Spending has been offset by a rise in revenues, driven by strong tax collection.
Youth unemployment is 22.5%, and national unemployment is 6.9%. The rapid shift from labor-intensive sectors to emerging high-value-added sectors requires higher skills. Inequality has recently been on the rise.
Market Trend
The Mauritius vehicle market has been affected in 2020 by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted sales significantly.
Mauritius vehicles market in recent years has been characterized by unstable sales registrations, as after 2015’s decline, it immediately recovered in 2016 breaking the 9.000 units threshold. However, in 2017 the market fell down again 4.2%. In 2018, the market signed a record – soaring 23.1% – with registrations at 10.351.
In 2019, the vehicle market further improved, hitting the new All-time record. Indeed, Full-year registrations have been 10.261, down 0.9% from the previous year.
Full-Year sales for 2020 have been 7.854, reporting a 23.5% decrease compared to 2019.
Brand-wise, this year the leader Nissan (-21%) gained 0.5% market share, followed by Toyota (-19.7%), which gained 0.8% share. Kia (-27.5%) was in the third position and lost 0.6% market share.
The most sold model in the country remains the Toyota Hilux with 432 sales, holding 5.5% market share.
