Dealers News South Africa

Fastest-selling used cars in SA

When it comes to the used car market in South Africa, according to George Mienie, CEO of AutoTrader, there's reason for "cautious optimism".
Photo by Arthur Brognoli© from
Photo by Arthur Brognoli© from Pexels

Mienie points out a number of positive trends in this sector of the automotive industry.

“Prices have begun to increase – albeit slightly – while cars are also selling faster than experienced earlier this year. Both of these factors bode well for the used car market,” he notes.

His statements are based on AutoTrader’s Used Car Rate of Sale (ROS) indicator, which has just been released for the period ending June 2020. ROS specifically provides an understanding of which cars South Africans are purchasing the fastest.

According to this data, the fastest-selling used vehicle in South Africa at the end of June was the Volkswagen Polo Vivo, which took a mere 25 days to sell. “This confirms the popularity of the Volkswagen brand yet again; it was also the most sold brand last month,” notes Mienie.

Toyota was the second most sold brand in June and so it wasn’t surprising to see two vehicles from that manufacturer complete the podium positions.

“The Fortuner was the second-fastest selling vehicle last month (26 days to sell), followed by the Hilux (26 days),” reveals Mienie.

AutoTrader’s Retail Price Index (RPI) shows a 1,2% increase in prices in June (month-on-month). The average selling price of a car for the month of June was R274,221.

“This is a small increase, but it is positive news for retailers indeed. It also means that demand for used cars continues to rise” notes Mienie.

“Consumer propensity for increased spending albeit on used cars, is always a good thing for the automotive industry as a whole as we know the used car market is a much bigger market than new in South Africa,” he concludes.

Fastest selling used cars

According to AutoTrader’s Used Car Rate of Sale (ROS) indicator, these are the fastest selling used cars for June 2020:

RankMake and ModelRate of Sale (days)
1Volkswagen Polo Vivo25
2Toyota Fortuner26
3Toyota Hilux26
4Volkswagen Polo26
5Nissan NP20028
6Toyota Corolla Quest29
7Volkswagen Golf30
8BMW 3 Series31
9Ford Ranger32
10Ford Fiesta32
11Audi A338
12Renault Kwid40
13Ford EcoSport42
14Kia Sportage44
15Ford Figo44

Note: Models that tied in days have been ranked by the lowest average individual time to sell a model.

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