With the increasing prices of new vehicles, buyers are finding better value in pre-owned market, thus resulting in higher demand for used vehicle market. Japan is the biggest exporter of used vehicles and Africa is one of the largest importers of used vehicles. Millions of used vehicles are imported from Japan. It is just because of their flawless quality that Japanese vehicles are popular across the world. Among various African countries, South Africa is one of the largest importers of used vehicles. Located in the southern tip of Africa, this country surely holds a vast market of used vehicles. Apart from a significant increase in the prices of new vehicles, the used car market also benefitted from affordability concerns and low interest rates.
Few years ago, it’s been difficult for average income earners to buy a vehicle, as it would be beyond their financial possibilities. For some it was almost impossible to import vehicles from overseas, even used vehicles. But today, with the changing scenario, things have changed a lot. The advancement in technology has improved the facilities and systems. With the increase in income of people, presence of many online portal sites, it has become easy to import a vehicle to almost every country in the world. Even though buying a vehicle is not difficult now, but for some it is still beyond their financial reach. Thus, people are moving towards more feasible option to buy a vehicle, i.e. a used vehicle.
Last year the used car market witnessed an unexpected growth in comparison to previous years. In the first half of 2014, a total of 153,900 used vehicles were financed, with 127,391 financed in the same period last year. Whereas the number of new vehicles financed were 96,908 in the period January-June 2014, with 79,920 vehicles financed in the same period last year. This year only, November witnessed the growth of4.7% in used car market.
The slow growth of new market contributed to continued growth in the used car market. According to WesBank’s data, on comparing sales of used and new vehicles, the ratio of used vehicles to new ones is 1.39:1, a year-to-date increase of 11%. In comparison to passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles are more popular in the country. Toyota being a most trustworthy maker is the most selling brands in the country. This country has the highest cars per capita in Africa. For every 1000 people, there are 200 cars in South Africa. That means one in every five persons in South Africa owns a vehicle. In comparison to other African countries, South Africa has many cars. To be more precise, the country has many cars even in comparison to some European countries.
Not only used cars, used trucks, buses, motorcycles even used machineries, parts and accessories are exported from Japan to South Africa. The country is a gold mine and has been experiencing constant boom in its economy and growth. There are huge opportunities for used vehicle exporters to invest in the South African market, as the used car market in the country is stable and growing with a rapid pace. Being a developing nation, the market is not competitive and is efficient. So, to increase business, dealers prefer to import and sell used vehicles in Africa. With the increase in demand for vehicles, there are ample chances for small and big businesses to make a fortune.
Some of the popular car models in South Africa are- Toyota Corona Premio, Toyota Corolla Spacio, Toyota Mark II, Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, Toyota Premio, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Toyota Hiace Van, Toyota Raum, Toyota Nadia, Toyota Harrier.
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