• AutoTrader has shared data on used car models in South Africa for 2023.
• The average price of used car sale last year was R399 163 on the platform.
• In 2023 the number of used cars sold on AutoTrader rose by 4.6 percent year-on-year.

With last year’s global economic downturn resulting in a higher cost of living for many, if not all, South Africans, it comes as no surprise that’s the used car market thrived in 2023.

This according to AutoTrader, which has shared some interesting data regarding the sale of used cars on its platform during last year.

To that end, the local automotive marketplace has shared some insights as to the top selling used car models for 2023, but before we delve into that, it has also shared some noteworthy statistics. These include the fact that the number of used cars sold in 2023 rose by a relatively high 4.6 percent year-on-year.

Added to this was the average price of used cars being R399 163 in 2023, which shows that sellers saw some value last year too.

“Sales of an additional 17,000-odd units in 2023 and increased average selling price helped drive up the total value of used cars sold by 7.7% year-on-year. Amounting to a whopping R146.5 billion, 2023’s figure outperformed the previous year’s by some R10.5 billion,” AutoTrader highlighted in a release shared with Hypertext.

“The company also pointed out that, “The Toyota brand continued to fuel car shoppers’ passions. Like it did in 2022, the Japanese brand sold the most used cars (60,296) in 2023. Volkswagen and Ford remain in the slipstream, with BMW and Mercedes-Benz making up the top five.”

As for the most popular used car models in South Africa for 2023, AutoTrader explained that there were no real significant changes from 2022 to last year.

“Mirroring 2022, the most popular models were the Ford Ranger in first place with 20,156 used cars sold, followed by the Toyota Hilux, VW Polo, VW Polo Vivo and the Toyota Fortuner. In 2022 the Ranger bakkie just managed to clinch the win over rival Hilux. But in 2023, the Ranger widened the gap growing sales by 15.96% against the Hilux’s 2.25%.”

The top 10 models are as follows: