Car Sales In SA: Used Trumps New

While new car sales got off to a stuttering start in 2024, it was a strong month for used car sales in January, which increased by 3% versus January 2023. That’s according to AutoTrader, which recorded 30,126 used cars that moved through the platform in the first month of 2024 – versus 29,233 in January 2023.

In contrast, according to naamsa | The Automotive Business Council, 28,790 new passenger cars were sold in January this year – 6.7% less than the 30,863 new cars sold in January 2023. Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini-buses – at 10,871 units during January 2024 – improved by 2.3% over January 2023, when 10,623 were sold. Total new vehicle sales in January 2024 were 41,636 units – a decline of 3.8% versus January 2023, when 43,294 sales were recorded.

The accumulated value of used cars that moved through the AutoTrader platform in January 2024 was R11.9 billion. This is 6.5% up on the accumulated used car sales value of R11,2 billion in January 2023. It is also a 10% increase over the R10,9 billion in used cars that moved through the platform in December 2023.

The average value of new cars financed rose from R386,657 in January 2023 to R391,287 in January 2024¹. Average prices in the used car market rose too – from R384,638 in January 2023 to R397,411 in January 2024. The average mileage of used cars sold in January 2023 was 79,520 km and the average age of registration was 7 years old. One year later, that changed to 75,105 km and 5 years old respectively.

Last month’s top-selling new passenger cars in South Africa were the Volkswagen Polo Vivo, Toyota Corolla Cross and Suzuki Swift. Last month’s top-selling new bakkie was the Toyota Hilux, followed by the Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max.

In contrast, the top-selling used passenger cars in South Africa last month were the Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Polo Vivo and Toyota Fortuner while the top-selling used bakkies were the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and the Nissan NP2000.

According to George Mienie, AutoTrader CEO, the most sold used makes in January were Toyota, followed by Volkswagen and Ford. “This isn’t unusual; those three brands typically dominate used car sales. In January, the Toyota Hilux, KIA Picanto and the Suzuki Swift experienced the most growth with 38%, 37% and 33% increase in monthly sales,” he reveals.

The BMW 3 series is the only model that saw a decline in sales, moving from the 6th to the 8th most sold model, showing a 4% decrease in monthly sales.

Source:

1. Wesbank Car Finance Data

Top 10 models sold in January 2024

Source: AutoTrader Used Car Sales Data: 1 January – 31 January 2024