07 May 2020 - 05:06Searches for second-hand vehicles under R50,000 have increased by almost 300% from normal pre-Covid-19 levels, says AutoTrader. Picture: DENIS DROPPA
“Evidence from dealer customers show consumers trading down in all categories, including higher-income-level consumers,” said George Mienie, CEO of AutoTrader, based on data gleaned from the site’s 35-million car searches a month. Consumers had expected dealerships to be open and trading on May 4, as evidenced by the sharp increase in website traffic on that day, though by Wednesday afternoon the government still had not confirmed under what conditions dealers were allowed to trade under level 4 of the lockdown, he said.
Another online vehicle sales portal, Cars.co.za, also reflected a buying-down trend and reported that about 10% of site visitors surveyed are now looking for a more affordable vehicle.