The South African Car Pricing Scam

It has amazed me that for years and years the South African public has been misled into believing that cars are “affordably” priced, both for new and used cars.

They are not – and we the taxpayer are being taken for a ride. A minimum Billion Rand a year ride. Let me explain.

South Africans are not allowed to import cars directly from overseas. We have a protected market, supposedly to support the local car manufacturing industry. However, if you live within the South African Customs Union (SACU), you CAN import cars, and at a fraction of the price. A Business Day article today has the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers bemoaning the fact that South Africa is losing over a Billion Rand in car revenue due to the import of some 10,000 Asian cars being imported into the SACU, and then ending up being driven in South Africa. That is a saving of R100,000 per car!!!

Great to know this! I definitely intend to try do this, because it will certainly save me a FORTUNE on a 2^nd hand car. And I will have R100,000 to spend in the South African economy on other things.

Car Price Examples:

New top of the range Prius in the US: R224,560, in South Africa: R378,000.

2^nd Hand 2006 Honda Civic in the UK: R80,000, in South Africa: R150,000.

And I could list a hundred more.