New industry report details most popular car by fuel type
The latest AutoTrader Car Industry Report highlights which are the most desirable cars in SA when it comes to fuel type.
According to AutoTrader CEO George Mienie, the report – which is specific to the last six months of 2019 – is based on hefty amounts of data.
“An impressive 180-million searches were conducted during this time and it continues to grow,” he said.
AutoTrader analysed more than five million lines of data, which resulted in some interesting findings – including that the top three most searched-for petrol cars were the BMW 3 Series, the Volkswagen Polo and the Volkswagen Golf.
“The BMW 3 Series was also the second most searchedfor vehicle overall [irrespective of fuel type],” Mienie.
“BMW was the most searched for brand on in the second half of 2019, with Volkswagen in second place.”
When it came to diesel, everything changed.
“This is obviously influenced by the popularity of bakkies in SA,” Mienie said.
“The top three diesel fuel type searches were the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and, finally, the Toyota Fortuner.”
Mienie said the popularity of the Hilux came as no surprise.
“It is the top-selling new vehicle in the country [irrespective of fuel type] and it was also the most searchedfor model on AutoTrader during the period under review.
“Interestingly, it was not the most sold – that honour went to the Ranger,” he said.
In terms of electric cars, things got even more interesting.
“In the period July to December 2019, the top three most searched-for electric cars on AutoTrader were the BMW i3, BMW 3 Series and the Toyota Hilux,” Mienie said.
“Even though the Toyota Hilux is not an electric vehicle, the data highlights that in-market car shoppers are still interested in this type of car and even more so, desire an electric variant,” he contended.
“The 3 Series is also not yet available in pure electric guise.
The Volvo XC90 was the most searched for hybrid car, followed by the Toyota Yaris and the Toyota Auris.