September vehicle sales hit N$1 bn
Namibia registered 1,498 new vehicles in September, with an estimated combined list-price value of N$1 billion, as competition between Chinese and established automotive brands intensifies.
The figures, compiled by Simonis Storm Securities, show that the average passenger car was listed at N$601,000, while the average light commercial vehicle (LCV) cost N$742,000.
Half of passenger cars registered during the month were priced below N$450,000.
Chinese passenger vehicles averaged N$511,000, compared with N$615,000 for established brands, a difference of about 17%. The price gap widened to 30% in the LCV segment.
Simonis Storm said the main area of competition was the N$300,000 to N$800,000 price band.
Toyota maintains dominance
Toyota remained the dominant brand, registering 854 vehicles in September, equivalent to 57% of the total market.
Its year-to-date market share stood at 55.9%, broadly unchanged from 56.1% in 2025. Toyota accounted for 728 additional vehicle sales compared with the same period last year, contributing more than half of the market's net growth, Simonis Storm said.
The Toyota Hilux also retained its position as the country's leading light commercial vehicle, with 359 units sold in September. However, its share of the LCV segment declined to 48%, from 56% in August.
Ford's Ranger recorded its strongest monthly sales performance of 2026, with 86 units, while Isuzu's D-Max registered 60 units, its second-best month of the year.
Market recovery gathers pace
September's registrations increased by 14.9% compared with the same month in 2025 and by 8.7% from August.
Sales for the first nine months of the year reached 12,254 vehicles, up 12.4% year on year. Third-quarter registrations totalled 4,409 units, the strongest quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2016.
The recovery was driven largely by dealer sales, which reached 1,476 units in September, the highest monthly level since December 2015. Rental registrations, by contrast, fell to 18 units from 156 in August.
Simonis Storm said rental companies had brought forward vehicle purchases earlier in the year. Rental registrations reached 938 units during the first nine months, up 45.9% year on year and already the highest annual total since 2017.
The research firm expects the dealer market to play a greater role in determining sales during the final quarter, as rental fleet purchases are likely to contribute less.
It has raised its forecast for 2026 vehicle sales to between 16,000 and 16,600 units, with a central estimate of 16,300, representing annual growth of about 12%.
