Used car models: Bakkies were the top-sellers for last year
Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux were the most bought vehicles in eight of South Africa's nine provinces.
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, reports The Citizen.
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, Western Cape, KZN, 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, where it was built, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo took the number one spot last year.
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 chief executive officer 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
Here is the breakdown of the top-selling used cars in each province for last year. Next to each model is the number of units sold and its share of the total used car sales.
• Northern Cape: Hilux (247 – 12%)
• 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%)
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