There’s little positive news out there, but used car sales in South Africa during March do provide a glimmer of hope!

According to George Mienie, CEO of AutoTrader, the month began well, and was on track to sustain the ongoing positive performance of the 2020 year.Ultimately sales did slow in the last week of March, resulting in a month-on-month reduction of 13%. 

Mienie comments: "But this is far from a doom and gloom story; over 33 000 used cars were sold last month. And the cumulative used car sales for March is impressive, amounting to over R10 billion, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 14%."

Year-on-year

A closer look at the year-on-year comparison reveals that sales rose versus March 2019. Over 30 000 used cars were sold in March 2019 versus over 33 000 in March 2020.

Searches have also grown year-on-year, from 26 million in March 2019 to 33 million in March 2020. The top 10 brands all increased in search volume month-on-month. This was also aided by the two additional days in March.

The top-selling used vehicles in March were the Volkswagen Polo, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Polo Vivo (in first, second, and third place respectively).

These figures are based on an analysis of AutoTrader data. Given the fact that AutoTrader is the largest motoring marketplace in South Africa, it serves as a sound industry proxy.

To download the previous AutoTrader Reports, click here.