The pre-owned car market saw 2% year-on-year growth in 2023 to an aggregate of 343,737 sales despite stagnant new-car sales in the face of a decline in real household income and persistent load-shedding, according to AutoTrader’s latest Car Industry Report.
High prices for new vehicles continue to push consumers to the pre-owned market in search of better value, with the platform experiencing 466 million searches over the 12-month period equating to 17 searches every second.
In 2023, the six most dominant body types were SUV, hatchback, sedan, coupe, double cab, and single cab – in that order – which collectively accounted for 95% of all used-car advert views.
At the front of the pack was the SUV which has seen an upsurge in demand in recent years and consequently garnered a significant 30% share of advert views, equating to an impressive 102.4 million views.
The average price of a used SUV listed on AutoTrader last year came in at R499,283 and the average mileage sat at 69,254km.
Hatchbacks followed with a 22% share, being listed at a far lower average price of R218,945 while their mileages were almost equal to that of SUVs at 69,170km.
Not far behind, sedans captured 16% of the market at a mean price of R333,080 and mileage of 92,345km; with coupes securing a 10% slice despite their high average window sticker of R973,793 and mileage of 68,997km.
Altogether, bakkies may have had a slightly bigger market share than coupes at 11% versus 10%, though when split up into their respective categories, double and single cabs each accounted for a lower portion of overall advert views at 8.8% and 3%, respectively.
During the year, the typical double cab was listed at R495,784 with a mileage of 84,854km, and the typical single cab for a much lower R245,374 at 103,711km.
Regardless of the silhouette, the average price of a used car on AutoTrader in 2023 decreased for the first time since 2021 by 1.4%, reaching R426,343, with the average mileage similarly dropping by 3.2% to 73,515km.
Top 3 performers per segment
The top three best-selling used cars in 2023 in the six most popular body styles in South Africa are shown below, as per AutoTrader’s 2023 Car Industry Report.
SUV
- Toyota Fortuner – 9,169 units
- Ford EcoSport – 6,032 units
- Jeep Wrangler – 4,384 units
Hatchback
- VW Polo – 14,147 units
- VW Polo Vivo – 10,243 units
- Kia Picanto – 4,446 units
Sedan
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 6,701 units
- BMW 3 Series – 6,581 units
- Toyota Corolla Quest – 3,631 units
Coupe
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 935 units
- BMW 2 Series – 867 units
- Porsche 911 – 689 units
Double Cab
- Ford Ranger – 15,874 units
- Toyota Hilux – 9,907 units
- VW Amarok – 2,906 units
Single Cab
- Nissan NP200 – 4,506 units
- Toyota Hilux – 4.182 units
- Ford Ranger – 1,974 units
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