VW Polo Vivo posts largest monthly gain in used car sales while Suzuki Swift boasts greatest year-on-year increase.

Weak demand for cars continued to play out in June.

“Constrained economic conditions continue to impact the automotive market. As a whole the market was down for both the new and used car markets. Year-on-year used car sales dropped -6.4% in June,” revealed AutoTrader’s CEO, George Mienie. 

“The 27,750 used cars sold in June realised a value of R11.3 billion. Though sales improved by the smallest of margins in comparison to May, the additional 21 units failed to move the monthly growth percentage needle,” he added.

In June, consumers paid an average of R407,655 for a 5 year-old used car model with an average of 73,936km mileage, according to AutoTrader data.

As has become the norm, Toyota led used car sales selling over 4,600 units. Volkswagen maintained its second spot with 4,039 units some way ahead of Ford with 2,898 sales. 

Three locally-built models continued to top June’s used car sales table. With just over 1,500 units sold, the Ford Ranger remained the most sought after model ahead of rival bakkie Toyota Hilux. But hatchback VW Polo is in the Hilux’s slipstream with sales of 1,254, just 35 units shy of snatching second spot from the bakkie.

There was one new entrant in the top 10. The KIA Picanto leapt from position 14 to 10th spot in June.

When it comes to year-on-year growth, the Suzuki Swift was unmatched. Used sales of the Japanese hatch grew by 54.7% year-on-year ahead of Volkswagen’s affordable hatchback the VW Polo Vivo with a 22.8% increase and half-tonne bakkie the Nissan NP200 with a 17.1% rise.

Price is a major driver of the used car market, so too is fuel-efficiency and reliability. All are contributing factors to the VW Polo Vivo’s impressive statistics. Apart from the German hatchback’s notable year-on-year growth, the Vivo also posted the best month-on-month growth, with a 14% increase in monthly used car sales in June. Let’s not forget that the VW Polo Vivo 1.4 continues to top the leaderboard as the best-selling variant. 

The question now is this. Will the recent reduction in fuel prices, positive response to the government of national unity (GNU) and the expectation of lower interest rates drive sales higher in the coming months? Only time will tell.

Top 10 Sold Used Models in June 2024

Source: AutoTrader Used Car Sales Data: 1 - 30 June 2024