The cars South Africans want – and the ones they really buy

South Africans aspire to own multi-million-rand cars, but their budgets rarely allow for that.

Used-car platform AutoTrader revealed a striking difference between aspiration and affordability in the local pre-owned vehicle market.

It found that consumers regularly peruse listings for cars such as the lauded Porsche 911 and luxurious BMW X5, but when the time comes to buy, they tend to go more for models like the wallet-friendly Suzuki Swift and VW Polo Vivo.

It’s not surprising given the average salary in the country right now is R28,231 before deductions, barely enough to cover one monthly payment on the most affordable Porsche on the market.

Most viewed vs Most sold

Several industry stalwarts appeared on both the most viewed and most sold lists for used cars in 2024, speaking volumes of their popularity and widespread appeal.

The particular models encompassed the VW Polo, Ford Ranger, and Toyota Hilux.

The Ranger took the crown as the country’s best-selling used car in 2024 with an impressive tally of 20,914 purchases, whilst also being the second-most viewed vehicle with a whopping 13,155,270 advert views.

The Polo beat the Ranger with more than 2 million additional advert views (15,498,776) but was ultimately the third-best-selling used car with 15,710 units sold.

“This suggests that many consumers are interested in the Polo but, due to budget constraints, may have to settle for something more affordable, like the Polo Vivo, for example, which is the seventh most-viewed model yet the fourth best-selling used car,” said AutoTrader CEO George Mienie.

Meanwhile, the Hilux was the fifth-most viewed model at 12,018,281 advert views, while being the second-best-selling entry at 17,294 sales.

A common thread exists between these three autos, which extends to the VW Polo Vivo, BMW 3 Series, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class which all feature on both sides of the list.

“These vehicles combine several crucially important aspects that appeal to consumers,” said Mienie.

“Firstly, they are all built in South Africa (local 3 Series production ended in 2019), are well-priced within their respective segments, and come from trusted brands with strong ties to the country, large dealership networks, and decent parts availability.”

Looking at the bigger pictre, brands like VW and Toyota continued to lead in both views and sales, highlighting the ongoing appeal of trusted, locally produced cars that meet aspirational and practical needs.

AutoTrader’s data furthermore reveals consistent patterns in the cars that capture attention.

Interestingly, the VW Golf is the third-most viewed used car despite not appearing on the top 10 best-sellers.

“This is likely due to the popularity of the high-performance Golf GTI and R variants, which racked up advert views of 10,829,068 and 7,840,473, respectively,” said Mienie.

Likewise, the high-end Porsche 911 sports car gained 4,770,279 advert views, while the luxurious BMW X5 SUV garnered 4,697,510.

These vehicles surpassed highly sought-after cars such as the Suzuki Swift and Nissan NP200 in views, but were nowhere near the top 10 in terms of sales.

These statistics indicate that consumers spend much time perusing AutoTrader looking at dream rides they may only one day be able to afford.

The top 10 most viewed and most sold cars on AutoTrader in 2024 were: