Those closely following the South African auto market will tell you, the country’s roads and sales charts are dominated by small hatchback and family sedans, both on the new and used side of the equation. But now, a new Ford model has managed to find itself in the leading spot of the used car leaderboard.
According to the 2019 Industry Report published by AutoTrader South Africa, the Ford Ranger pickup truck is leading the used car sales race – the first time that the Ford pickup has come into the position.
“It’s automatically assumed that the [Volkswagen] Polo will be the top seller in the used car market in South Africa because, quite honestly, it usually is. But now our data shows the number one spot for this period has been taken by the [Ford] Ranger”, said George Mienie, CEO of AutoTrader South Africa. The Volkswagen Polo was dethroned from its lofty perch after some two decades at the top.
The South African pickup truck market is traditionally dominated by four models – the Toyota Hilux, followed by the Ford Ranger, Isuzu KB (now called D-Max) and the Ranger-derived Mazda BT-50. When it comes to new vehicle sales, the Toyota Hilux leads the sales charts, but the Ranger appears to be drawing more interest on the used car side.
The Ford model accounted for 16.1 percent of all used cars sold in South Africa during the second half of 2019 compared to 11.1 percent for the Toyota Hilux.
Over the preceding 12 months, however, the Ranger was the third most popular used vehicle in South Africa, with a 12.8 percent market share versus 10.5 percent for the Hilux.
The 3.3 percent increase in the popularity of the Ranger can be attributed to its value, equipment, fuel efficiency and technology over its rival. In fact, the average price of a used Ford Ranger was $16,160 for a 2015 model with an average of 52,733 miles on the odometer. By comparison, the average Hilux sold was a 2012 model with 63,581 miles on the clock and a price of $17,056.
In other words, it would seem that the Ranger has lower residual values than the Hilux, enabling used car buyers to scoop up a newer model with less miles and at a cheaper price than the Toyota Hilux.
It’s great to see a Ford model lead in the highly-competitive South African market, even if it’s in the used market. The country’s economy is driven by construction, mining, agriculture and transport, and the Ranger is perfectly suited to tackle the tasks with its 2WD and 4WD drivetrain configurations as well as single cab, super cab and double cab variations. For the African market, the Ranger is built at the Ford Silverton Assembly Plant outside Pretoria.
Back at home, very healthy Ford Ranger sales have propelled the truck to third place in its segment during the first quarter of 2020, behind the Toyota Tacoma and Chevrolet Colorado, though the Ranger will likely overtake the Chevy in terms of cumulative sales volume later this year.
We’ll be here to report on the Ranger, so subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Ranger news and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comment
Awesome! It’s nice to see FORD dominating in some markets…