New survey indicates 60% car ownership in Gauteng

"Although these statistics are high, we must remember that this is an average and the real information lies within the suburban data where you can really see the key differences," says John Bowles, joint MD of NAB.

Centurion in Pretoria ranks as the top suburb in Gauteng in terms of vehicles in the household - almost 96% of the area have one or more vehicles in the household. On the other end of the scale and ranked 50th in Gauteng, you have the suburb of Evaton (Vaal) where only 15% of households have one or more cars in the household.

Some of the high incidence suburbs with one or more vehicles in the household other than Centurion include the Ruimsig area (95%), Benoni and Pretoria East (94%), Bedfordview/ Edenvale and Fourways (93%), Lower incidence areas include Zola, Chiawelo and Orlando in Soweto (15%-20%) and Sebokeng (Vaal) and Tsakane/ KwaThema (Ekurhuleni) at 22%.

Bowles adds, "Although town councils and provincial road planners would find the information useful, the motoring industry in all forms could also find the data meaningful and insightful. Dealerships can understand the strengths of their catchment areas and manufacturers can target high incidence areas of vehicle owners. Taxi associations can even market to their core customers."

Other transport

The survey also measured other transportation, including that used by Gauteng suburban households when going shopping - an important fundamental for retailers to get to grips with.

On average, across the Gauteng suburbs measured, 54% use their own car, 7% use someone else's car, 31% use a taxi and 7% walk/ cycle as their main form of transport when shopping. Only 0.2% used the train and 0.9% use the bus when shopping.

"If you're a retailer relying on bulked up trolleys and your customer is using a taxi, you could be a little disappointed when the trolley isn't quite filling up to your expectations," explains Bowles. "You need to understand the mode of transport your customers are using when they enter the door and this survey can help - particularly before the Christmas shopping spree starts."

Area differentials again need to be considered when analysing the averages. For instance 90% of Sandton residents use their own vehicle when off to the shops, 69% of Dobsonville in Soweto use a taxi and almost 40% of Pretoria central households walk.

Conducted by TNS Research Surveys, the data is available free of charge to retailers, marketers, media planners and strategists and is on Telmar systems. For more information go to www.nab.co.za.