Jeep Wrangler emerges as August used car sales surprise

South Africa’s used car sales registered one of its biggest increases in August with an uptake of 12% to 34 725 from the 30 978 shifted in July according to the latest report by AutoTrader.

Wrangled-up

Accounting for the biggest surprise, though, was the Jeep Wrangler, whose sales increased by a record 111.65% on a month-on-month basis.

It finished August as the eighth most wanted used car ahead of long-time favourites – both on run-out – the Ford EcoSport and Nissan NP200.

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In total, used car sales increased 10.5% year-on-year, amounting to an overall value of R14-billion. On average, consumers parted with vehicles costing R403 203, had an indicated mileage of 78 509 km and hailed from 2018.

“While new car sales dipped in August, in the used car sphere the opposite happened. This could be attributed to the value benefit pre-owned cars offer buyers, which makes pre-owned cars an attractive option,” AutoTrader CEO George Mienie said.

Best-sellers

Out of the best-selling models, the Ford Ranger finished ahead of the Toyota Hilux, with the Volkswagen Polo placed third ahead of its junior siblings, the Polo Vivo, and the fifth-placed Toyota Fortuner.

Sans the Wrangler, EcoSport and NP200, the remainder of the top 10 fell to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in sixth and the BMW 3 Series in seventh place.

In terms of respective variants, the Polo Vivo 1.4 took top spot ahead of the Polo 1.0 TSI, with third and fourth positions being occupied by the Hilux 2.8 GD-6 and the Ranger XL.

Completing the top five, the Wrangler remained present in the guise of the mid-spec Sahara sold with an average of 122 988 km on the clock, aged nine-years old and going for R481 550.

Taking the lead as the best used selling brand was Toyota, followed by Volkswagen, Ford, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, with Hyundai and Nissan completing the top 10 pursued by Renault, Audi and Kia.

“The new car market might be feeling the pinch right now, but with ongoing growth in sales, the used car market continues to gain traction,” AutoTrader said.

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