Tunisia 2018. Duties dragged down the market

Tunisian Vehicles Sales went down 17.4% in the 2018 hit by the introduction of new duties, ending the full year at 52.601 units sold. Isuzu is market leader followed by Citroen, while Renault kept the 3rd place few units ahead of Peugeot.

Economic Environment

Tunisian economy is sustained by the strong tourism and a good performance from the agricultural sector, although the large trade deficit remains a key source of concern. Despite having unlocked loans worth USD 747 million from the IMF and the World Bank in recent weeks, on 8 October Moody’s downgraded Tunisia’s outlook to negative, citing the country’s rapidly depleting foreign exchange reserves.

Tunisia’s prospects are riddled with challenges this year. The country’s main vulnerabilities—large fiscal and current account deficits coupled with low foreign reserves—are notably compounded by political instability and unrest, fueled by high unemployment and inflation.

Market Trend

Tunisian domestic vehicles market has fast grown in the recent years ending a positive trend in the 2018, when the introduction of duties have hit severely the official market.

Indeed the market have hit the all time record both in the 2016 and in the 2017 (63.678 sales) even not considering the high quota of grey market, estimated in the range of 15%. However, the government decision to increase the duties on import, effective since January 1st 2018, obtained the result to block the market development and even to move the trend in a negative pathway with 2018 sales at 52.601 (-17.4%).

Brand-wise, the 2018 market leader was Isuzu with 7.178 sales (+1.2%) and 13.6% of market share. In second place Citroen with 4.518 (-19.7%) followed by Renault with 3.647 (-27.4%), Peugeot with 3.617 (-16%), Kia with 3.470 (-20.7%) and Volkswagen with 3.377 (-27.9%).

Tables with sales figures

In the tables below we report sales for Top Brands

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