Strong vehicle sales to drive growth

By: STAFF REPORTER

NEW vehicle sales in Namibia in July grew by 33 per cent compared to last July, the latest analysis by Simonis Storm Securities analyst Rudolf Kuschke has shown.

Kuschke said the strong vehicle sales data witnessed over past 12 months is most probably a reflection of the Targeted Intervention Programme for Employment and Economic Growth (Tipeeg) and Government spending coming in effect.
“In our view, Tipeeg will most likely continue to support vehicle sales data towards the end of 2012, with total vehicle sales in 2012 likely to be just short of the 14 000 level which implies a close to 12 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase”, he said..
Kuschke said the momentum currently witnessed in the vehicle sales data suggests that Namibian demand is fairly strong and will likely underpin consumption expenditure and real economic growth in 2012. “In our view the strong vehicle sales data increases the probability of a positive economic growth surprise in 2012,” he said.
Total new vehicles sales in July was recorded at 1 254, reflecting an increase of 7,7 per cent compared to the previous month. Kuschke said the monthly increase was as a result of a spike in the extra-heavy commercial vehicles category, while passenger vehicle sales were slightly down. On an annual basis, growth accelerated from its June level of 12,6 per cent to 33,3 per cent y-o-y growth in July.
“We expected an improvement in the sales for July as consumers and businesses make use of lower prices and special deals offered at annual motor shows during this time of year,” Kuschke said.
New vehicle sales in Windhoek grew even stronger at 11 month-on-month (m-o-m) growth in July, reaching a total of 828 units sold. The y-o-y growth figure also accelerated from 11,7 per cent in June to 33,5 per cent in July.
“Consequently the percentage of total vehicles sold in the capital increased to 66 per cent from 64,1 per cent the previous month,” Kuschke said.
Passenger vehicle sales decreased slightly on a monthly basis by 5,1 per cent to 554 units in July, although the previous month saw the second highest figure in the series. The y-o-y growth figure hence remained strong with sales increasing 20,2 per cent from a year ago compared to the 19,9 per cent growth recorded in June, Kuschke said.
In contrast to passenger vehicle sales, commercial vehicle sales spiked to 700 units. This led to a monthly increase of 20,7 per cent and an annual increase of 45,8 per cent for this category. “The biggest driver of the increase was a large number of extra-heavy commercial vehicles sold in the month, leading this category to a 48,9 per cent monthly increase and a 81,1 per cent increase to total of 67 heavy commercial, extra-heavy commercial and buses sold in July,” Kuschke said.

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