Johannesburg - Christmas is all about family, mince pies, holidays, relaxing… and red. It’s everywhere – from Santa’s suit to the gorgeous decorations on our Christmas trees. Why not a red car for Christmas too? But which red cars are consumers most likely to buy?
In order to answer the question, we analysed 2022’s red car models on AutoTrader (January to November) that consumers most enquired about. And what’s particularly interesting is the cars that are missing from this list.
George Mienie, the AutoTrader CEO, said two of the three most-enquired-about car models of 2022 were bakkies.
“The Volkswagen Polo was the most-enquired-for car model this year, followed by the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger,” he said.
This comes as no surprise; the Polo, Hilux and Ranger always dominate new car sales too. And, when one looks at the most-enquired-about red models, the Polo appears, once again, in the number two spot, behind its Golf sibling.
But there are two glaring omissions: the Hilux and the Ranger. Why aren’t consumers likely to buy red bakkies?
According to global research, red and bakkies don’t go hand-in-hand. Instead, research conducted by Kelley Blue Book reveals that the most popular colour for a bakkie in 2022 is white. The second is grey and the third, black.
Another colour trend report, by PPG, confirms the trend – white, grey and black are the three most popular bakkie colours.
Assuming you have your heart set on red, what cars can you buy – and for how much? Here are three cars that are all available for well under R300 000.
The aforementioned Polo is listed on AutoTrader for an average selling price of R272 406. It has an average mileage of 74 740km and an average year of registration of 2017. This is a well-built car that comes with the back-up of a vast dealer network – and it typically boasts good resale value too.
Then there is the Ford Fiesta, which is listed on AutoTrader for an average selling price of R201 487, with an average mileage of 86 095km and an average year of registration of 2016. The first Fiesta was produced as a result of the oil crisis in the 1970s. Ford recognised that car buyers would seek an economical vehicle with fuel prices spiralling. Sound familiar? The Fiesta continues to offer affordable motoring to the masses today.
Finally, there is the Kia Picanto, which happens to be the cheapest car on the list, with an average selling price of R176 035, an average mileage of 37 437km and an average year of registration of 2019. What most people might not know about the Picanto is that – for a small car – it has a surprisingly big boot. Its 255-litre boot can accommodate about 45 large pizza boxes or, for that matter, 45 Christmas presents. We bet Santa would say “ho, ho, ho” to that!
