Despite dwindling new car sales, the used car market is doing extremely well.
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According to George Mienie, AutoTrader CEO, February 2020 was yet another record month for the used car market – with cumulative used car sales of just under R11.5 billion.
“It was an excellent month for the used car market,” he notes. “Over 38 000 used cars were sold – matching the record high of November 2019.”
According to Mienie, “Even though February was a short month. Cars sold increased by 3.3%.” The total retail value also increased – from R10,48 billion in January to R11.49 billion in February,” he reveals.
The two top sellers in January – the Volkswagen Polo followed by the Ford Ranger – retained their number one and two spots in February. The average retail price for a Polo in February was R202 925, with the average year of registration being 2016 and the average mileage 54 946 km. In the case of the Ranger, these figures are R312 880, 2016 for the average year of registration and 85 851 km respectively for the average mileage.
The Toyota Hilux and Volkswagen Polo Vivo, which were in the number three and four positions in January, exchanged places in February. The average retail price for a Volkswagen Polo Vivo last month was R161 905 while the average year of registration was 2017 and the average mileage was 48 096 km. “The Toyota Hilux achieved an impressive average price of R336 713. The average model year was 2014, whilst the average odometer reading was 101 075 km,” adds Mienie.
It was also interesting to see the emergence of the Isuzu D-Max for the first time. “It clocked in seventh, which is quite impressive. For some reason, very low-mileage Isuzu’s were in great demand last month – the average year of registration was 2019 while the average mileage was a mere 6 783 km. The average retail price was R377 709. It is also interesting to note that many of the sales took place in the Western Cape, where it was the most sold car in that province during the month of February,” Mienie concludes.
According to Mienie, “AutoTrader’s most recent Car Industry, Report’s Retail Price Index (RPI), used car retail prices rose by 2% in the last quarter of 2019. Used car Retail Price Index will be an important barometer during the 2020 year for the industry.”
To view the full monthly sales report and the latest AutoTrader Car Industry Report’s: reports.autotrader.co.za/industry
