Used Cars vs New Cars

Jan 2014

New vehicle sales are not up to scratch – that is the truth of the matter. If you are in the market to replace your vehicle, it is time to look a little further, think out of the box and invest in a pre-owned car. Make this your resolution for 2014! After all, why spend a fortune on something that you can barely afford and instead buy the car of your dreams at an excellent price.
It is a known fact that the final month of the year’s sales is never something to write home about for car manufacturers. On the whole, consumers are more reluctant to buy new vehicles towards the close of any year, as is quite evident when comparing sales for November 2013 and December 2013. Other figures indicate that the sales from December 2012 and December 2013 show that there was an increase of, 2% during this period. The year-to-date growth stats paint a far rosier picture with a 3.17% increase yet which is still far below the original NAAMSA expectations of about 7.3% in domestic sales volumes for the year. This growth is relatively small when compared to the 24.7% year-on-year figures in 2010, 16.1% in 2011 and 9.0% in 2012.
The export of new vehicles is still feeling the negative effects of the seven-week long automotive strike that took place from August to October in 2013. Total exports did not match the projected total in 2013 as a consequence. The figures projected were in the region of 336 000 vehicles with only 275 882 being exported in total at the end of the year. Although the total is lower than anticipated these export figures are the third highest ever recorded in South Africa.

With the new car market being on a bit of a downward slope this last year, it might be time to start saving yourself a bit of money and visiting an AA quality-assured dealership and looking at what the used car market has to offer. Bag a bargain by buying a pre-owned vehicle in 2014 – after all, you can find the car of your dreams at a fraction of the cost.