February marks another record month for used car sales, says AutoTrader!

“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 R10,48bn in January to R11,49bn 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 54,946km. In the case of the Ranger, these figures are R312,880, 2016 for the average year of registration and 85,851km 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 48,096km. “The Toyota Hilux achieved an impressive average price of R336,713. The average model year was 2014, whilst the average odometer reading was 101,075km,” adds Mienie.

One of the biggest surprises from the market in February, according to Mienie, was the disappearance of the Volkswagen Golf from the top 10. “It’s massively popular with South African motorists, so it normally achieves a top 10 ranking,” he comments. Its fall was not too dramatic, however, because it achieved the 11th spot.

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 6,783km. 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