INTERVIEW
Swing back to new cars, but pre-owned market has its perks
With new car sales declining in recent years in SA, there has been a clear swing towards used cars and the value that they hold. Yet, according to Kriben Reddy, the boss of Trans-Union’s automotive division, the pendulum is swinging back to new again. Reddy says that extended periods of a weak rand drove consumers to the used market as prices of new cars continued to rise, but the strengthening of the rand in the past year has kept new car price increases at bay and he saySwing s that the "cycle’s turning now". As well as a slower rate of vehicle price increases, Reddy says that there have been a huge number of marketing incentives from both manufacturers and dealer groups. Sales showed improvements towards the end of 2017 in the dealer channel while finance deals were also up at the end of the year. Pricing remains the biggest trend says Reddy, but there is definitely a more cautious approach when it comes to consumers’ buying decisions. He says consumers are either buying down or ...
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