News / 10 September 2026 / Michael Taylor

South Africans spent R5.8 billion on used Ford Rangers in 6 months

The Ford Ranger is the most popular pre-owned car in South Africa, selling a grand total of 11,365 units in the first six months of 2026.

This was revealed in AutoTrader’s 2026 Mid-Year Report, which showed that 195,455 used vehicles were sold between January and June.

More than 19 million people visited AutoTrader’s used-car trading platform over the six-month period, generating 82 million sessions, conducting 315 million searches, and viewing 212 million vehicle ads.

The 195,455 cars sold represent an increase of 8% over the same period in 2025. The total value of these sales rose by 9% to R82.38 billion.

A sizeable portion of this total came from the Ford Ranger, which sold 11,365 units at an average price of around R512,668, meaning that motorists have spent somewhere in the ballpark of R5.8 billion on the bakkie so far this year.

The second most popular option was, unsurprisingly, the Toyota Hilux – another bakkie and the Ranger’s main rival.

Households bought 8,809 second-hand Hilux models at an average price of R480,919, equating to a total of roughly R4.2 billion.

Third place is where you’ll find the nation’s favourite passenger car, namely the VW Polo Vivo, which beat its more expensive sibling, the Polo, with 7,164 units compared to the latter’s 7,149.

In fifth place, we have the Suzuki Swift with 4,872 units, followed by the Toyota Fortuner with 3,998, making it the best-selling pre-owned SUV in South Africa.

The Toyota Corolla Cross came seventh with 3,690 units, and the Isuzu D-Max was the third bakkie to crack the top 10 with 3,344 buyers.

Ninth place is a new entry in the bi-annual top 10, namely the Hyundai Grand i10, which sold 3,290 used examples.

Last but not least is the Toyota Starlet, which sold 2,944 units between January and June.

One thing that stands out from this list is the fact that BMW and Mercedes-Benz are nowhere to be found.

The 3 Series and C-Class used to be favourites in the second-hand space, but they have been replaced by entries like the Swift and Grand i10, underscoring the fact that even the used market is seeing a shift away from luxury brands to more affordable options.

That’s not to say people aren’t interested, as BMW was the most-searched brand on AutoTrader with 36.26 million searches, compared to 36.06 million for VW, and 34.95 million for Toyota.

This suggests that premium brands like BMW are still highly desirable, but that motorists are struggling to afford them, even at second-hand prices.

AutoTrader noted that the overall growth of the market came despite renewed pressure on household budgets, including a 25 basis point interest rate hike in May and high fuel prices.

The average price of a car sold on the platform increased by just 1% year-on-year to R421,499, with an average model year of 2020 with 70,964km on the odometer.

“The market grew in the first six months of the year, but the buyer behind that growth is careful,” said George Mienie, CEO of AutoTrader.

“People are still interested in premium and performance cars, as the search data makes clear, but completed sales lean heavily towards vehicles that are affordable to buy, economical to run and easy to live with.”

“That gap between browsing and buying is one of the most useful signals in this report, because it shows dealers where curiosity ends, and real demand begins.”