Congo 2021. Vehicle Market Gains 18.3% Despite Falling In Double-digits In The Second Half

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Congo car market
The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS

Democratic Republic of Congo’s Auto market in 2021 gains 18.3% with 995 sales, reporting a double-digit drop in the second half of the year. Leader Toyota remains unchallenged, and keeps gaining market share.

Market Trend

Democratic Republic of Congo’s car market this year grew effectively despite dropping in double-digits in the second half of the year.

The new vehicles market is still very little in the country, addressed by the import of used vehicles from Europe and the Middle East, and actually, the annual sales of new cars represent less than 10% of total vehicle registrations.

In recent years the market was stable around the 2,000 annual sales, while in 2017, the recovery of oil price in the international market, sustained internal demand boosting the registrations of new light vehicles at the new record of 3,304 units, up 74.3%, rebalancing the volume after two years of decline.

However, in 2018 the new vehicle sales were hit by a large drop, which pulled the market below the 2,000 threshold. Indeed, the year ended with 1,965 units sold, losing 40.5% from the previous year.

In 2019 the situation definitely did not improve, as the year ended with 1,319 units sold, losing 33% from the previous year and keeping the same trend of decline.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic full-Year sales for 2020 have been 841, reporting a decline of 36.2% compared to 2019.

In 2021 the year started very positively for the Democratic Republic of Congo market, in fact, in Q1 249 units have been sold, reporting a 36.1% increase in sales compared to Q1 2020, while in Q2 sales started growing even quicker due to the incredibly low levels of the previous year, reporting a 158.6% increase in sales.

In Q3 sales fell 15.9% with 248 units sold, and remained down 15.7% in Q4 with 247 units sold.

Indeed, Full-Year sales for 2021 have been 995, reporting a 18.3% increase compared to 2020.

Congo Democratic Republic quarterly sales variation
Congo Democratic Republic quarterly sales variation

Brand-wise, this year the leader Toyota (+22.3%) gained 1.3% market share, followed by Mitsubishi (+35.5%), which gained 2% share. Nissan (+49.4%) was in the third position and gained 2.3% market share.

The most sold model in the country remains the Toyota Hilux with 184 sales (+49.6%), holding 20.1% market share.