{"id":843377,"date":"2025-11-17T08:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T06:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=843377"},"modified":"2025-11-17T08:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T06:58:16","slug":"webuycars-hit-by-new-chinese-threat-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/motoring\/843377\/webuycars-hit-by-new-chinese-threat-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"WeBuyCars hit by new Chinese threat in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WeBuyCars has taken a hit from the arrival of value-for-money Chinese car brands, but believes it will see long-term benefits from these brands in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its results for the year ended 30 September 2025, the group said that it continued its long-term growth trajectory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group saw group revenue increase by 13.1% to R26.4 billion. Buying and selling volumes of 180,576 and 179,006 units were up 7.7% and 8.4%, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of vehicles bought and sold continues to grow, with sales volumes reaching an all-time monthly record of 16,294 units in November 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With monthly sales volumes exceeding 15,000 units in six of the last 12 months, the group has continued to gain market share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the group acknowledged that it experienced market pressure due to structural shifts within the South African automotive industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strength of the new vehicle market and the pricing competitiveness of Chinese brands, including GWM and Cherry, impacted consumer behaviour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese brands have captured notable market share through attractive pricing and compelling new-vehicle offerings,\u201d said the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, it said that the buoyant new vehicle market and the growing penetration of Asian brands will be a long-term positive for the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said that these vehicles will enter the used-vehicle market in the future. It will also expand the group\u2019s acquisition base and opportunity set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To maintain liquidity and ensure healthy inventory turns, the group adjusted the selling prices for vehicles to compete with asian entrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis proactive measure placed short-term pressure on margins during the second half of the year.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, WeBuyCars continued to expand and enhance its national footprint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two new supermarkets were opened in Rustenburg in October 2024 and Vereeniging in August 2025, adding 300 and 550 parking bays, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that the two supermarkets have delivered pleasing results since opening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that upgrading existing facilities also remained a priority, with the Pietermaritzburg supermarket being relocated to a larger site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facilities at George, Polokwane, Mbombela, the Dome, Riverhorse Valley, Gqeberha and Germiston were also expanded. As of September 2025, the national capacity increased to 12,911 parking bays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The upcoming supermarket openings in Montana (Pretoria North) and Lansdowne (Cape Town) this year will increase total capacity by over 20%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financials<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The group said that it continues its long-term growth trajectory with core headline increasing 15.0% to R937.6 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key drivers of this growth in core headline earnings were: higher volumes, average selling prices and net insurance result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise in earnings was also due to lower finance costs and cost efficiencies driven by economies of scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group noted that it issued new shares through 2024, which has an unfavourable impact on basic, headline and core headline earnings per share.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group\u2019s headline earnings per share did, however, increase by over 100% to 937.6 cents per share. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company\u2019s dividend policy is to declare between 25% and 33% of its headline earnings as a dividend, subject to working capital requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group upped its final dividend by 50% to 30 cents per share, with the final dividend reaching 55 cents per share.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said that it intends to grow its footprint across South Africa responsibly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Group believes there are opportunities to capitalise on in the short to medium term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metric<\/th>Unit<\/th>2025<\/th>2024<\/th>% Change<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Units bought<\/td>Number<\/td>180 576<\/td>167 741<\/td>7,7<\/td><\/tr>
Units sold<\/td>Number<\/td>179 006<\/td>165 185<\/td>8,4<\/td><\/tr>
Revenue<\/td>Rm<\/td>26 377,2<\/td>23 319,2<\/td>13,1<\/td><\/tr>
Core headline earnings (i)<\/td>Rm<\/td>937,6<\/td>815,4<\/td>15,0<\/td><\/tr>
Core headline earnings per share (i, ii)<\/td>Cents<\/td>224,6<\/td>217,4<\/td>3,3<\/td><\/tr>
Basic earnings<\/td>Rm<\/td>935,4<\/td>343,1<\/td>> 100<\/td><\/tr>
Basic earnings per share (ii)<\/td>Cents<\/td>224,1<\/td>91,5<\/td>> 100<\/td><\/tr>
Headline earnings<\/td>Rm<\/td>937,6<\/td>343,9<\/td>> 100<\/td><\/tr>
Headline earnings per share (ii)<\/td>Cents<\/td>224,6<\/td>91,7<\/td>> 100<\/td><\/tr>
Final cash dividend per share<\/td>Cents<\/td>30<\/td>25<\/td>20,0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WeBuyCars admitted that well-priced Chinese car brands have impacted its margins, but believes that their presence will have long-term benefits. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":828197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11119],"tags":[12861],"class_list":["post-843377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-webuycars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843377"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":843387,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843377\/revisions\/843387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}