Vehicle sales surge but buyers hit the brakes on vehicles beyond R500K
South African car buyers are increasingly avoiding new vehicles priced over R500,000 due to economic pressures and high inflation. Consumers are shifting their preferences toward used cars, Asian brands, and more affordable electrified options.
Why it matters
This trend highlights the growing disconnect between rising automotive costs and the stagnant purchasing power of the average consumer in emerging markets.
Car prices are soaring but cash-strapped buyers are fighting back with used cars, Asian challengers and affordable electrified options
Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Email If you have scrolled through online configurators of major legacy automotive brands, you would be forgiven for thinking that every motorist in South Africa has suddenly stumbled into a trust fund.
The pricing of modern vehicles has become untethered from the economic reality of the people expected to buy them.
Top-tier double-cab bakkies, like the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger, vehicles that once served as the humble, utilitarian backbone of the economy, are comfortably pushing past the R800 000 mark in their higher trims, with flagships easily demanding more than R1 million.
Standard European family SUVs — once a staple of suburban driveways — now require a similarly exorbitant financial commitment.
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