WeBuyCars shares tank after trading update for H2:2025 weaker than expected

The share price for WeBuyCars fell by up to almost 14% on Tuesday, after the company posted an annual trading statement reflecting a slower performance for the second half of the year to end-September 2025.

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This is despite the vehicle reseller forecasting it expects core headline earnings between R917-958 million.

This is 12-17% better than the previous reporting period, notes Faan van der Walt, founder and executive director of WeBuyCars.

"However, our shareholders do have very high expectations... From our side, we feel that our first half was fantastic and the second half of the year was somewhat subdued, softer than expected."

Their second-half dip is all to do all to do with consumer constraints, van der Walt says.

"We saw the finance approval rates drop as low as 40% down from the beginning of the year, so there's definitely a slowdown in credit and a wait-and-see attitude."

He also affirms that the entry of more affordable brands, especially from China, is taking market share from the used car industry.

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"New vehicle sales have been very buoyant so far this year and we expect that to continue... It's all in the mid-price range not the upper end because people are just far too constrained, but this is definitely playing into that niche where someone considered buying second-hand for around R400 000, but then decides to buy a brand-new Chinese vehicle for instance which offers great value for money."

Over the longer term, van der Walt does not see this as a negative factor for the used car industry.

He points out that the demand is also huge for these vehicles second-hand, and that buyers don't hold on to them for as long as the traditional buyer of a Volkswagen or Audi, for instance.

Scroll up to the audio player to hear more from the WeBuyCars executive