Sales of new vehicles in Africa have started to recover from a “disastrous” pandemic-hit 2020, says the African Association of Motor Manufacturers (AAAM).
Fresh vehicle sales statistics, compiled for the AAAM by the Africa Automotive Data Network (AADN), show that 2021 sales increased to 1.13-million units, up from 856 133 units in 2020.
The 2021 figure is still about 20 000 units below the 2019 number of 1.15-million units.
These numbers represent total industry sales volumes as reported by manufacturer by market.
For sub-Saharan Africa only, the volumes exclude heavy commercial vehicles, as these are not reported, but are estimated by the AADN to be fewer than 5 000 units a year.
Of the 1.13-million new vehicles sold in 2021, 548 504 units were sold in North Africa and 499 087 units were sold within the Southern African Customs Union, with the remaining 83 658 new vehicles sold in the rest of sub- Saharan Africa.
New-vehicle sales volumes in South Africa improved by 32% in 2021, but were still down by 7% over 2019.
In the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, volumes increased by 15% in 2021, but were down by about 10% over 2019 volumes.
“The improved new-vehicle sales volumes in 2021 are encouraging and show that markets are recovering as life on the continent and many other places in the world are slowly normalising after the Covid pandemic,” says AAAM CEO David Coffey.
“We believe that this positive trend will continue into 2022 with the reported quarter- one sales for 2022 already some 9% up over 2021.
“Growth will also start to accelerate as more countries in Africa embrace the industrialisation and growth opportunities presented by the continental automotive strategy, which could see new-vehicle sales reach five-million units a year by 2035,” notes Coffey.