Revealed: Top-selling used car model in each province in 2025
2026-03-22 - 10:50
Whichever way you look at car sales data, South Africa is bakkie country. Not only in new sales, but also in the pre-owned market, as a bakkie is the favourite used car in eight out of South Africa’s nine provinces in 2025. Ford Ranger rules roost According to AutoTrader, the Ford Ranger ruled the roost as the top-selling used car in six provinces last year. These include Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Mpumalanga and the Free State. Mzansi’s top-selling new bakkie, the popular Toyota Hilux, was the favourite car among used buyers in Limpopo and the Northern Cape. In the Eastern Cape, incidentally the region it is built in, the VW Polo Vivo ruled the roost in 2025. The AutoTrader numbers suggest that pre-owned vehicle activity mirrors population density, economic output and access to formal retail and finance infrastructure. The bulk of last year’s used sales was done in Gauteng (56%), the Western Cape (18%) and KZN (13%), leaving the other six provinces to contribute just 13% to the total. Bakkies mainstream passenger choices The prominence of the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux across both urban and more rural provinces is notable. “There’s often an assumption that bakkies are big sellers in more rural areas, but the data doesn’t support that,” says AutoTrader CEO George Mienie. “Even in the most urbanised provinces, the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux lead the rankings. That suggests these vehicles have evolved into mainstream passenger choices, not just workhorses.” The share of the best-selling vehicles in Gauteng, Western Cape and KZN is a lot lower than in the lesser populated provinces. Where 5% of all used vehicles sold in Gauteng in 2025 was a Ford Ranger, the percentage in North West is 12%. This indicates that the used market in the bigger regions is a lot more diverse. The bottom line Breakdown of the top-selling used car in each province in 2025. Next to each model is the number of units sold and its share of the total used car sales. Gauteng: Ford Ranger (12 034 – 6%) Western Cape: Ranger (3 572 – 5%) KwaZulu-Natal: Ranger (2 562 – 5%) North West: Ranger (1 513 – 12%) Mpumalanga: Ranger (1 181 – 9%) Eastern Cape: VW Polo Vivo (746 – 7%) Free State: Ranger (513 – 8%) Limpopo: Toyota Hilux (369 – 8%) Northern Cape: Hilux (247 – 12%)