JOHANNESBURG - South Africans remain besotted with SUVs but they’re willing to spend far more on a bakkie. This perhaps surprising finding has emerged from an analysis of search data on AutoTrader during the month of August.
According to AutoTrader CEO George Mienie, shoppers for SUVs were looking for vehicles priced at R200 000. “During Lockdown Level 2, price-related searches for SUVs were for cars listed at R200K or less; this price bracket constituted 22.79% of the searches,” he reveals.
On average, bakkies are searched for at prices that are two times more than that of any other body type. “The largest searched price bracket for double cab bakkies was for cars priced at R400 000 or less, this constituted 24.93% of price-related searches. It is very interesting to note that, while SUVs are highly desired, South Africans don't appear so willing to pay as much for them as they are for double cabs,” he points out.
Mienie says that this could be attributed to the fact that, while the SUV sector is the fastest-growing body-type segment both globally and in South Africa, local motorists are truly passionate about bakkies. “According to our report, the top-selling used car in South Africa is the Ford Ranger, while the Toyota Hilux is the third most popular used car and the most sold new car in the country,” he notes.
The 2020 AutoTrader Car Industry Report reveals that there are only two SUVs in the list of the 10 most sold used car models in South Africa over the last year, namely the Toyota Fortuner (seventh) and Ford EcoSport (10th).
Those two vehicles also appear in the list of the most searched for SUVs in the country during August 2020, with the Fortuner occupying the number one spot and the EcoSport in eighth place. Somewhat surprisingly, the Jeep Wrangler doesn’t appear on the list of most searched for SUVs in August. According to the 2020 AutoTrader Car Industry Report, it was the third most sold SUV over the past year.
SA's Most searched for SUVs in the R200K price bracket*
1. Toyota Fortuner
2. BMW X3
3. Volkswagen Tiguan
4. Toyota RAV4
5. BMW X5
6. Land Rover Range Rover Sport
7. Nissan X-Trail
8. Ford EcoSport
9. Kia Sportage
10,. Ford Kuga
*Source: August 2020, AutoTrader