Car buying in South Africa: 75% of models now cost over R500,000

Pippa Hudson interviews Ernest Page, Motoring Journalist at changecars.co.za.

Listen below (skip to 04:00).

Buying a car is a significant accomplishment, but it's one that many find challenging due to the high costs, whether they're considering a new model or a pre-owned one.

According to TopAuto's inventory of cars in South Africa, there are currently 1481 models available for sale.

This figure covers passenger vehicles and excludes medium and heavy commercial trucks.

Of these models, 1082 are priced over R500,000 - which accounts for nearly 75% of the new car market.

Consequently, only about 25% of the models are priced below the half-a-million rand threshold.

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This includes:

• Honda Fit 1.5 Comfort – R380,500
• Nissan Navara 2.5 single cab – R381,000
• Toyota Urban Cruiser 1.5 XR auto – R382,900
• Mitsubishi Xpander 1.5 auto – R385,995
• Fiat Tipo hatch 1.4 City Life – R390,900
• Toyota Corolla Quest 1.8 Prestige auto – R394,000
• Suzuki Jimny 1.5 GL AllGrip 3-door manual – R399,900

According to Page, import tax significantly impacts vehicle pricing in South Africa.

Taking this into consideration, he questions why locally produced cars are so expensive.

"If a car is imported I understand that there is a lot of tax on top of that, but why are locally manufactured cars so expensive?"

- Ernest Page, Motoring Journalist – changecars.co.za

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.