While many South Africans are concerned about the current state of the economy, there is one sector that is doing well, says AutoTrader chief executive officer, George Mienie.<\/p>\n
According to the car marketplace<\/span>, February 2020 was yet another record month for the used vehicle market \u2013 with cumulative used car sales of just under R11.5 billion.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an excellent month for the used car market,\u201d Mienie said. \u201cOver 38,000 used cars were sold \u2013 matching the record high of November 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEven though February was a short month, cars sold increased by 3.3%,” Mienie said. The total retail value also increased \u2013 from R10.48 billion in January to R11.49 billion in February.<\/p>\n The two top sellers in January \u2013 the Volkswagen Polo followed by the Ford Ranger \u2013 retained their number one and two spots in February.<\/p>\n The average retail price for a Polo in February was R202,925, with the average year of registration being 2016 and the average mileage 54,946 km. In the case of the Ranger, these figures are R312,880, 2016 for the average year of registration and 85,851 km respectively for the average mileage.<\/p>\n The Toyota Hilux and Volkswagen Polo Vivo, which were in the number three and four positions in January, exchanged places in February.<\/p>\n The average retail price for a Volkswagen Polo Vivo last month was R161,905 while the average year of registration was 2017 and the average mileage was 48,096 km. \u201cThe Toyota Hilux achieved an impressive average price of R336 713. The average model year was 2014, whilst the average odometer reading was 101,075 km,\u201d said Mienie.<\/p>\n One of the biggest surprises from the market in February, according to Mienie, was the disappearance of the Volkswagen Golf from the top 10. \u201cIt\u2019s massively popular with South African motorists, so it normally achieves a top 10 ranking,\u201d he said. Its fall was not too dramatic, however, because it achieved the 11th spot.<\/p>\n Last month also saw the emergence of the Isuzu D-Max for the first time. \u201cIt clocked in seventh, which is quite impressive. For some reason, very low-mileage Isuzu\u2019s were in great demand last month \u2013 the average year of registration was 2019 while the average mileage was a mere 6,783 km,” said Mienie.<\/p>\n “The average retail price was R377,709. “It is also interesting to note that many of the sales took place in the Western Cape, where it was the most sold car in that province during the month of February,\u201d the chief executive said.<\/p>\n
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