Winter has set in with a vengeance with temperatures plunging below 0° in some areas in the early hours of the morning. We also saw some much-needed rain in Port Elizabeth. We wish our colleagues, family and friends in the area all the best as water is hopefully restored to this region.
Read More
Most vehicles on SA Roads under 10 years old…but rising as depressed new vehicle sales take a toll
on 28 Jun 2022
Just more than half of the vehicles on South Africa’s roads were purchased in the last ten years – and 50% of the vehicle parc are Passenger and Light Commercial vehicles bought in the last decade.
Read More
South Africa - Automotive Retail Financial Performance Trends - September 2020 to April 2022
on 28 Jun 2022
The ripple effects of global events, including China’s covid precautions, the ongoing conflict in central Europe, rising inflation in every corner of the world and the seemingly steady erosion of the integrated global manufacturing and global supply chains, is reducing business and consumer confidence.
Read More
Ever-Increasing Marketing Spend, By Jason Berriman, Head of Dealership Sales, Cars.co.za
on 28 Jun 2022
Our dealer-marketing analysis, which we conduct annually, has revealed that marketing spend has increased substantially throughout the South African dealer network. I alluded to this in a previous opinion piece, in which I mentioned that if the trend continued, it would lead to eroded margins and higher costs per sale that we, as an industry, cannot afford. When reviewing the price increase across the various aggregators throughout the past few years, they’ve been in line with CPI or, in some cases, slightly above it. To recap, the additional budgets are being spent on SEO and social media – mostly Google and Facebook, respectively.
Read More
The Road to a Smoother Customer Journey; By Kriben Reddy, TransUnion Africa, auto information solutions vice president
on 28 Jun 2022
Right now, South African car dealers are caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, they’re living in a new digital world where consumers even buy big-ticket items like cars online and want the car-buying process to be as quick and easy as possible. At the same time, they have to be able to confirm customer identity and creditworthiness.
Read More