By: Dwight Links
For five months in a row, the vehicle sales sector has produced strong performance numbers in terms of new vehicle sales.
A report by Simonis Storm investment firm outlines that the year has produced 9,380 units that were sold through the first seven months.
“July delivered 1,535 units, which advanced the year-on-year growth by 17.6% in comparison to the July 2025 tally of 1,305,” the report states.
The month-on-month growth was 0.8% higher, as June had recorded 1,523 units.
The reason for this is described by Almandro Jansen, an economist from Simonis Storm, saying the local demand was the key force behind this performance.
“This July outturn is the strongest July reading since records were compiled and the fifth consecutive month in 2026 to exceed 1,200 units, confirming that the post-pandemic demand floor has reset materially higher,” Jansen explained.
Passenger vehicles (PAS) registered 755 units, followed by light commercial vehicles (LCV) with 681 units; extra-heavy vehicles (XHV) delivered 64 units sold for the month.
“For the XHV acceleration, this is a leading indicator of infrastructure logistics investment, consistent with public-sector capital expenditure that is moving from planning to execution phase,” the report highlights on the linkages of major projects across the country to the XHV acquisitions.
In the LCV bracket, Toyota led with its domination of the bracket.
“The Hilux franchise retained its extraordinary dominance, accounting for approximately 480 LCV units – which is 70.5% of segment share within the LCV bracket alone. This dominance has no comparable precedent in any European or emerging-market automotive landscape of similar size,” the report stated, citing the continued brand loyalty that is associated with the Hilux in Namibia.
Another attribute to the dominance of the brand is described by the investment firm as the reliability premium that Toyota has cultivated, along with the company’s distributor network and perceived structural vulnerability.
Meaning that any supply disruption at the Hilux assembly would contract Namibian LCV volumes.
According to the report, Chinese brands in the passenger vehicle segment delivered 145 units for July, which was 19.2% of the bracket.
According to Simonis, a dimension to consider for the continuous penetration into the southern African market by the Chinese automakers is the exposure that the Namibian Dollar and South African Rand have to the European and Japanese automakers’ global currencies.
Chinese vehicles are manufactured in Chinese Yuan, while the Japanese and European brands are priced on the interlinked Yen, Euro and Dollar markets, the researchers found.
Volkswagen registered 132 units sold in the same period, according to the report.
“VW consolidated its position as the clear second-placed manufacturer at an 8.6% market share across the Amarok LCV, Polo, Golf and Caddy lines,” the report noted on European brands.
Jansen describes the competition between European and Chinese brands as squarely placed on the price differential of equivalent products in the passenger range.
“This is seen at the entry and midrange segments in the bracket – the Polo Vivo faces direct competition from Chery, Jetour and Haval products that are priced 15 to 25% below equivalent specifications. This is with increasingly competitive dealer finance terms through localised credit partnerships,” he explained on the comparison taking place between the products.
On the whole, German automakers collectively registered 95 units for the month, which is 6.2%.
