These are Mzansi's 10 most popular used coupés
While global coupé buyers prefer American cars — the Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger are the world’s most popular coupés — South Africans are besotted with German vehicles. Whether one examines the most searched for coupé models or, indeed, variants, they have one thing in common: every single vehicle is German made.
Mercedes-Benz is the most searched for coupé brand — both in model and in variant rankings — while BMW and Porsche are also right up there in the popularity stakes. It is fascinating to see the popularity of the three-pointed star in the coupé market; when one examines the total car market in SA in 2021, it was the third most searched for brand (behind BMW and Volkswagen).
The search statistics are courtesy of AutoTrader. The largest and most advanced digital automotive marketplace in SA, it provides unparalleled insight into car-buying patterns in the country.
Local buyers are incredibly loyal when it comes to their coupé-shopping traits. According to the 2021 AutoTrader Car Industry Annual Report, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class was — once again — the most searched-for coupé in SA, with a total of 618 940 searches. This is the third successive year that the vehicle has achieved this honour. The BMW 1 Series is also extremely popular with local coupé buyers; it appeared in the top three search rankings in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Image: Supplied
Significantly, AutoTrader is the only motoring marketplace with the capability to provide variant level data like this. This is significant because extremely precise market intelligence can be provided to the automotive industry — as opposed to data that only provides an overview of make and model level.
“Thanks to this functionality, we can track consumer shopping behaviour at a variant and trim level, throughout the year — identifying sought-after 'sweet spots' in terms of price, mileage and age,” explains George Mienie, AutoTrader CEO.
The variant in question was the Mercedes-AMG C-Class C63; it had an average price of R1,202,895, an average mileage of 46,066km and an average registration year of 2016. It is fascinating to see the exemplary resale value of this particular vehicle; a new Mercedes-AMG C-Class Coupé costs from R1,276,480.
However, this is in keeping with trends in the motor industry in SA; according to the 2021 AutoTrader Car Industry Annual Report, the average list price for a coupé in SA last year was R1,095,141 — making it the most expensive body type by far.