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There\u2019s little positive news out there \u2013 but used car sales in South Africa during March do provide a glimmer of hope, says AutoTrader chief executive, George Mienie.<\/p>\n
The month began well, and was on track to sustain the ongoing positive performance of the 2020 year.<\/p>\n
Ultimately sales did slow in the last week of March \u2013 resulting in a month-on-month reduction of 13%, Minie said, as South Africa went into lockdown to combat the spread of Covid-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut 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%,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 versus over 33,000 in March 2020.<\/p>\n
Searches have also grown year-on-year \u2013 from 26 million in March 2019 to 33 million in March 2020.<\/p>\n
The top 10 brands all increased in search volume month-on-month. This was also aided by the two additional days in March.<\/p>\n
The top-selling vehicles in March were the Volkswagen Polo, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Polo Vivo (in first, second and third place respectively).<\/p>\n