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South Africa’s much-loved bakkie – the Toyota Hilux – has been toppled from the podium position in terms of the most viewed used cars by the Volkswagen Polo.
This is revealed in the 2022 AutoTrader Mid-Year Car Industry Report. AutoTrader is the largest motoring marketplace in South Africa. Advert views indicate the interest for one car/segment/feature over another, and interest in the Volkswagen Polo has skyrocketed.
According to AutoTrader CEO George Mienie, from July 2018 to June 2019, the BMW 3 Series was number one, and the Polo was the fourth most viewed model.
BMW 3 Series
“In the July 2019 to June 2020 period, the BMW 3 Series still occupied the number one spot while the Polo fell to fifth. From July 2020 to December 2020, the Toyota Hilux was the most viewed model, while the Polo moved up into the fourth spot. For the entire 2021 calendar year, the Hilux maintained its number one spot while the Polo moved into the second position. Now, for the first time since 2018, the Volkswagen Polo occupies pole position,” he reveals.
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In the first half of 2022, the Volkswagen Polo generated a massive 6.9 million advert views, accounting for 4.9% of total advert views. Over 162 million consumer advert views were opened ,indicating an 8.7% increase year-on-year in the first six months of 2022. During the same period, the Polo was also the single most listed model (average selling price of R278 330, average mileage of 55 351km and average year of registration of 2019).
2022 Toyota Hilux GR-S
While the Hilux has been knocked off the top spot, it still remains a model that garners high interest in the used car market. In the first six months of 2022, it was the second most viewed model, with a total share of 4.6% (6,4 million advert views).
It is interesting to see another two Volkswagen cars on the list of the 10 most viewed models. The Volkswagen Golf received the third most advert views (5.9 million; 4.2% total share).
The Volkswagen Polo’s sibling, the Polo Vivo, has also increased in interest among in-market car shoppers, generating the eighth highest advert views, up from tenth place a year ago.
These results are not surprising considering the vehicle’s success in the new car market. In July, 1 166 Polos found new homes, while 32 sedan versions were sold. 1 820 customers opted to buy a new Polo Vivo. And in June this year, those numbers were 1 461 for the Polo, 79 for the Polo sedan model and 1 619 Polo Vivos sold.
Volkswagen South Africa has just built the 100 000th facelifted Polo in August 2022.
Earlier in August, Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) celebrated their 100 000th milestone of its new facelifted Polo at the Kariega plant.
The Kariega plant, which has been building the Polo since 2018, began production of the facelifted Polo on 16 August 2021 – which means the plant manufactured 100 000 Polos in just over a year, says the automaker.
2022 Volkswagen Polo Life
VWSA says the special 100 000th vehicle, a white left-hand-drive Polo GTI destined for Germany, marked the 74 688th Polo built this year. Of the 100 000 cars, 88 163 Polos were exported to 38 countries, while 11 837 Polos were delivered to the South African market.
VWSA has already celebrated multiple milestones around the Polo this year, reaching its 1-millionth Polo built for export in May and the 500 000th Polo (including the facelift and the model launched in 2018) in July. VWSA currently builds this vehicle for all right-hand-drive markets and supplements production for left-hand-drive markets and is the sole manufacturer worldwide of the Polo GTI.
Find out more by downloading a free copy of the report here.
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