Togo vehicles market falls due to the global pandemic affecting sales. Indeed, Full Year 2020 sales have been 360, down 19.1% compared to 2019. Toyota (-2.5%) is almost unaffected and keeps gaining market share.
Economic Environment
Republic of Togo is a long, thin sliver of territory, lies sandwiched between Ghana and Benin, with a 56km coastline on the Gulf of Guinea, and a similarly short northern border with Burkina Faso. Its population is at least 7.6 million (2016). Since the 1960 independence from France, the country – officially a republic – is under the power of a family, with current President, Faure Gnassingbe, re-elected for a third, five-year term in 2015, which has taken the country underdeveloped and currently among the poorest in entire Africa.
After slowing in 2017, a reflection of political tensions, and a sharp fiscal contraction, Togo’s economic growth picked up in 2018 to 4.9% (2.3% per capita). This recovery was driven largely by the rebound in public investment and robust growth in the services sector. Growth was mainly driven by the recovery in industrial production and the fairly strong performance of the transport and telecommunications sectors. Increased public investment and private consumption also contributed to this solid performance
Market Trend
The Togo vehicle market has been affected in 2020 by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted sales significantly.
In this environment, the local automotive industry still has a marginal rule with most of the market fueled by the import of used vehicles. The new vehicle market is very small, with the all-time record hit in 2015 when sales reached 708 units. In 2018, registrations marginally improved from the previous year, ending at 558 (+3%).
However, in 2019 the market was hit by a large drop (-20.4%) with full-year sales at 445.
Full-Year sales for 2020 have been 360, reporting a 19.1% decrease compared to 2019.
Brand-wise, this year the leader Toyota (-2.5%) gained 3.7% market share, followed by Hyundai, which fell 17.8%, gaining 0.4% share. Nissan (-23.4%) was in the third position and lost 0.6% market share.
The most sold model in the country remains the Toyota Hilux with 30 sales, holding 8.3% market share.
