South Africa’s pre-owned vehicle dealers, including WeBuyCars, are facing increasing pressure from Chinese car brands, which are luring buyers away from used-car lots through competitive pricing.
According to Standard Bank, this is particularly true of buyers under 35, who have historically opted for used cars instead, as a result of their lower prices.
The bank’s data highlights that Chinese brands have had a major impact on the South African automotive market, with 68% of young buyers buying Chinese cars brand new.
As a result of the threat of these cheap cars, large second-hand dealership networks, such as WeBuyCars, have reacted by cutting the prices of their used vehicles.
Using data collected from the bank’s own client base, alongside analysis from Youth Dynamix, Standard Bank compiled the 2026 Youth Barometer for a better understanding of the financial behaviour of 18- to 35-year-olds.
The report found that young South Africans are less reckless than assumed, with a closer look at vehicle finance showing they think practically, buying second-hand cars and an increasing share of crossovers.
Standard Bank’s report shows that 70% of young South Africans buy a car second-hand due to their lower prices and relative ease of purchase.
It noted that this was in line with previous generations of South Africans, who also preferred to buy their first few cars second-hand instead of buying them new.
That being said, the data point to the opposite when it comes to Chinese cars, with 67.9% of young South Africans buying them brand new.
According to Standard Bank, young buyers are actively choosing new Chinese cars over used ones from legacy brands because they offer newer technology and higher-spec options at lower prices.
Among young buyers, financed purchases of Chinese cars grew by 423% between 2021 and 2025 and now represent 11% of all vehicles bought by under-35s.
WeBuyCars slashes prices to keep up with China
The rapid rise in financed purchases of Chinese offerings is affecting the financial performance of major retailers like WeBuyCars, forcing them to look at pricing and selling behaviour.
WeBuyCars has explained the impact on its business and highlighted that these emerging car brands have caused short-term problems.
With these vehicles entering the market with well-equipped, low-cost offerings, other manufacturers have been forced to lower their prices across the board.
As a result, WeBuyCars has seen its margins when selling pre-owned cars slashed, as new alternatives have become significantly cheaper.
Standard Bank noted that this has made new cars more attractive to young South African buyers and made them more competitive than their used alternatives.
It pointed out that buyers can finance South Africa’s most popular Chinese car, the R300,000 Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, for R5,867 per month, without a balloon payment.
This is comparable to used-car prices, especially when looking at the equipment sheets offered by brands like Chery.
Despite this, Standard Bank highlighted major threats to Chinese vehicles in South Africa, which it referred to as the 2029-2031 Litmus Test.
It is during this period that a large number of financed deals for Tiggo 4 Pro and Haval Jolion models will come to an end, providing an indicator of how well they hold their resale value.
For dealers like WeBuyCars, it also represents an opportunity to capitalise, with these vehicles entering the used-car market, and enabling them to compete directly with new Chinese offerings.
This will also expand the pipeline of cars that pre-owned dealers can sell, restoring some of their profit margins.
That being said, there is still no clarity on what the resale value of these cheap Chinese cars will be, since many are still relatively new and under finance deals.
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