Bleak economic outlook means buying used cars, or hanging on to the old one
TransUnion AIS’s vehicle pricing index notes an upswing in used vehicle and predicts the industry will fall short of WesBank’s forecast of a 1.7% increase in sales in 2017
If you’re in the market for a new set of wheels‚ now is not the time to buy. A bleak economic outlook is set to play havoc with South Africans’ love of the latest new cars‚ forcing many to settle for used vehicles or to hang on to their existing cars for a lot longer. That’s the prediction of Derick de Vries‚ CEO of TransUnion AIS‚ who released the company’s annual vehicle pricing index (VPI) on Thursday morning. Newish used cars look set to be in even more demand — 40% of all used vehicles financed so far this year were less than two years old; 25% of them less a year old. Between them‚ Volkswagen and Toyota capture more than 50% of the new car market‚ and the two automotive giants also lead the used car market. "But there is not much separating the top tier from Ford‚ Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz‚" De Vries said. "With the recent ratings downgrade to junk status‚ we expect to see lower access to credit‚ a weakening currency‚ rising inflation and even higher interest rates‚ meaning co...
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