Industry report reveals online used vehicle searches increased by 40%

A total of 401-million online searches for used cars took place last year (an record and an almost 40% increase year-on-year). Furthermore, the average selling price of a used car in the last year was R289,312, an increase of R9,003 over the previous year.

These are among the key findings contained in the 2020 AutoTrader Car Industry Report released on Monday.

The annual report details trends and insights into the SA used car market. As the largest digital automotive marketplace in the country, AutoTrader provides unparalleled insight into local car buying patterns.

The 2020 report is extremely comprehensive. It covers anything and everything from exclusive insights from industry experts, such as AutoTrader CEO George Mienie and National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) CEO Mike Mabasa, to current data and statistics pertaining to the used car market.

This provides insight into which makes, models and — for the first time in SA — which variants (including trim levels) are important to car buying consumers.

Fascinating findings on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the automotive sector are also contained within the 48-page document.

According to Mienie, the report is especially useful during turbulent trading conditions  because the data helps dealers to acquire stock in the right price bands that also meets consumer demand.

“It goes without saying that 2020 has probably been one of the most challenging years in the history of the automotive business. We have been on a rollercoaster ride. This is confirmed by our Retail Price Index: In Q3 ending September 2019, we saw a high of 2.4% year-on-year, and then it sank to a price deflation low of -0,9% year-on-year in Q1 ending March 2020,” he said.

While each section of the report contains relevant and extremely valuable data, here are some of its highlights:

1. The most searched for brand is BMW.

2. The most sold car is the Ford Ranger.

3. The most searched for variant is the Volkswagen Golf GTI.

4. The most searched for price range is R200,000 and under.

The report covers the 12-month period ending  June 2020.

The full report can be downloaded free of charge here.