Namibian vehicles market continued the fall during the 2017, losing for the third consecutive year. The country is in recession after a prolonged expansion and Outlook is not improving. Toyota is market leader ahead of Volkswagen and Nissan
Though largely desert and ranch land, Namibia’s natural mineral riches and tiny population of about 2.5 million (2016) have made it an upper-middle-income country. But although political stability and sound economic management have helped it anchor poverty reduction, this has not yet been accompanied by job creation, and extreme socio-economic inequalities inherited from the years it was run as under an apartheid system still persist, despite generous public spending on social programs.
The Namibian economy slowed substantially in 2016 and 2017, technically entering in recession, which contrasts with average, annual gains of more than 5% in the preceding five years. The slowdown was noticed across all productive sectors, tied to consistently low mineral prices, regional drought, and a process of fiscal consolidation.
Namibian new vehicles market grew up substantially in the period 2008-2014 hitting a record of 22.515 units, before to start declining with three negative years in a score and 2017 figures down at 13.438, down from the previous year.
| Sales 2012 | Sales 2013 | Sales 2014 | Sales 2015 | Sales 2016 | Sales 2017 | Sales 2018 e | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car+LCV | 13.096 | 15.516 | 22.301 | 20.534 | 16.855 | 12.814 | 13.887 |
| HCV | 223 | 228 | 214 | 240 | 228 | 624 | 709 |
| Total | 13.319 | 15.744 | 22.515 | 20.774 | 17.083 | 13.438 | 14.596 |
| 2012 Var | 2013 Var | 2014 Var | 2015 Var | 2016 Var | 2017 Var | 2018 var e | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car+LCV | 22,8% | 18,5% | 43,7% | -7,9% | -17,9% | -24,0% | 8,4% |
| HCV | -0,9% | 2,2% | -6,1% | 12,1% | -5,0% | 173,7% | 13,5% |
| Total | 22,3% | 18,2% | 43,0% | -7,7% | -17,8% | -21,3% | 8,6% |
Brad-wise, the market leader is Toyota with 2017 figures at 5.471 (-20.2%) followed by Volkswagen with 1.675 (-27.9%) and Nissan with 1.488 (+0.9%).
