A VW hatchback with 100,000km on the clock – What South Africans drive

A VW hatchback with 100,000km on the clock – this is what a typical South African car looks like.

This is according to the TopAuto 2021 Automotive Survey, which saw 1,459 TopAuto readers share information about their primary vehicles.

Toyota closely followed VW as the primary vehicle brand driven by respondents, while the sedan body style ranked highly, too.

Brand

The survey asked TopAuto readers a range of questions about their vehicles, including the make, body type, mileage, and year of their daily drivers.

VW, Toyota, and Ford were by far the most-owned brands among readers – making up the top three – followed by BMW, Hyundai, and Honda in fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.

The graph below shows the top 10 brands from the survey, based on the question: Which brand is your primary vehicle?

Body style

Readers were then asked what body style their vehicle was, with hatchback and sedan taking first and second spot, respectively – closely followed by SUV.

The graph below shows the results of the question: What body type is your primary vehicle?

Mileage

While the make and body-type questions may have delivered non-surprising answers, it is interesting to note that the majority of readers who took part in the survey drive cars with over 100,000km on the clock.

The graph below shows the results of the question: How much mileage does your primary vehicle have on it?

Year

Despite many survey participants having a lot of mileage on their vehicles, almost a third of them have a primary vehicle which is a 2016 model year or newer.

This points to readers driving long distances on a regular basis.

The graph below shows the results of the question: What year model is your primary vehicle?