The Easter bunny normally does its rounds in April, but with Easter falling in March this year, car sales – both new and used – took a back seat.
Sales of new cars slipped -15.1% year-on-year, while used car sales almost mirrored this with a -12% drop.
“The profusion of public holidays in March translated into weaker car sales in a month not normally impacted by Easter holidays. April is traditionally the slow-selling month. Year-on-year and month-on-month sales figures are thus somewhat skewed; not quite a like-for-like comparison as would historically be the case,” explains CEO of AutoTrader, George Mienie.
“Despite the impact of multiple public holidays, in the used car market Kia, Suzuki and Renault actually increased their sales volumes year-on-year by some +48%, +20% and +3% respectively,” he adds.
Notwithstanding these performance improvements, in March used car sales momentum faltered with sales falling by -5% month-on-month, according to AutoTrader data. Sales totalled 27,274 units, a monthly decrease of 1,384 cars. Total sales amounted to R11.26bn, a decline of -2.93% when compared to February 2024.
Toyota led sales with 4,434 used cars sold ahead of Volkswagen and Ford. BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Nissan, Suzuki and Renault wrapped up the ten top-selling brands.
Kia, the only brand in the top ten to post month-on-month growth, sold 1,377 units, a +20% increase. That gained the Korean automaker two positions in the ranking.
The Ford Ranger generated the most model sales moving 1,599 units ahead of bakkie rival Toyota Hilux with 1,315 sales.
Hatchbacks Kia Picanto and Suzuki Swift were the model sales growth stars, posting yearly sales growth of +53% and +40% respectively. Picanto monthly sales increased by 22%.
Half-tonne bakkie Nissan NP200 maintained its 10th spot in the ranking.
Meanwhile, in the variant sales stakes, the hatchback duo VW Polo Vivo 1.4 and VW Polo 1.0TSI continued to outsell homegrown bakkies Toyota Hilux 2.8GD-6, Ford Ranger XL, and Toyota Hilux 2.4GD-6.
In March, the average used car price rose to R413,005 from R404,905 the previous month. Sold models averaged a mileage of 74,612km and average year of 2018.
Holiday periods are generally not great for vehicle sales. Sales in the month that follows are thus expected to reflect a somewhat more positive slant.
Top 10 Sold Models in March 2024
| Ranked by most sold | Model | Sold Count | Price (R) Average | Mileage (km) Average | Registration year Average |
| 1 | Ford Ranger | 1,599 | 467,753 | 80,888 | 5 years-old |
| 2 | Toyota Hilux | 1,315 | 454,833 | 101,900 | 5 years-old |
| 3 | Volkswagen Polo | 1,190 | 267,177 | 70,931 | 5 years-old |
| 4 | Volkswagen Polo Vivo | 849 | 190,968 | 62,255 | 5 years-old |
| 5 | Toyota Fortuner | 639 | 457,739 | 108,167 | 6 years-old |
| 6 | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 529 | 424,619 | 94,604 | 8 years-old |
| 7 | BMW 3 Series | 483 | 355,884 | 111,820 | 9 years-old |
| 8 | Kia Picanto | 453 | 176,361 | 44,568 | 4 years-old |
| 9 | Suzuki Swift | 385 | 185,256 | 37,968 | 3 years-old |
| 10 | Nissan NP200 | 363 | 169,211 | 87,930 | 5 years-old |
Source: AutoTrader Used Car Sales Data: 1 March – 31 March 2024
