Chinese car brands eating WeBuyCars’ lunch

Highly competitive pricing from Chinese car brands has made new vehicles more attractive to buyers, luring them away from used cars from dealers such as WeBuyCars. 

This is particularly true for South Africans under the age of 35, who have historically been major buyers of used cars due to their pricing. 

Standard Bank data show that Chinese brands have flipped the script in South Africa, with 68% of young buyers purchasing cars from the Asian country brand new. 

As such, the rise of Chinese cars poses a significant threat to large second-hand dealership networks, such as WeBuyCars. 

These companies have to react by cutting the price of their used vehicles, which squeezes their margins and impacts profitability. 

This data was revealed in Standard Bank’s 2026 Youth Barometer, which analysed the spending patterns of South Africans aged 18 to 35. 

Using data collected from the bank’s own client base and analysis from Youth Dynamix, Standard Bank has created a better understanding of the financial behaviour of young South African.

The bank noted that young South Africans are less reckless than assumed and are more comfortable engaging with banking and insurance products than previous generations. 

A particular focus for the bank was vehicle and asset finance, with the assumption being that young South Africans overspend on flashy cars. 

However, the data shows that they are extremely practical, with most buying second-hand cars and an increasing share buying SUVs or ‘cross’ vehicles. 

The bank’s data show that 70% of young South Africans buy a car second-hand due to their lower prices and relative ease of purchase. 

It explained that this tracks with previous generations of South Africans, who also tended to purchase their first few cars second-hand rather than new. 

However, the opposite is true for Chinese cars, with 67.9% of young South Africans buying them brand new. 

Standard Bank said young buyers are actively choosing new Chinese vehicles over used cars from traditional brands to access new technology and high-spec cars at a lower price point. 

Across young South Africans, financed purchases of Chinese cars grew by 423% between 2021 and 2025. They now represent 11% of all vehicles bought by under-35s. 

Chinese cars cause pain for WeBuyCars

The rise of Chinese vehicles has affected WeBuyCars’ financial performance, prompting the company to cut prices and change its selling behaviour. 

WeBuyCars has explained the impact with regard to its business and has not shied away from the short-term pain Chinese cars may cause it. 

As Chinese cars enter the market with high-spec, low-cost vehicles, other manufacturers have responded, lowering prices across the board. 

This gives WeBuyCars less margin to work with when selling used cars, as new alternatives have become significantly cheaper.

As Standard Bank noted, this has made new cars more attractive to young South Africans and made them more competitive with used alternatives. 

The bank pointed out that young South Africans can get a Chery Tiggo 4 Pro on a financed deal of R312,000 with a monthly repayment of R5,867, without a balloon payment. 

This is competitive with used-car prices, particularly given the high-spec models offered by Chery and other Chinese brands. 

However, the bank made it clear that there are major threats to the rise of Chinese vehicles, which it referred to as the 2029-2031 Litmus Test. 

During this period, a large number of the financed deals of the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro and the Haval Jolion, which are the two most popular Chinese cars, will come to an end. 

This will provide an indicator of how well these cars hold their resale value, how easily they can be sold and refinanced, and if the rapid growth of Chinese cars will be sustained. 

For WeBuyCars, this presents a significant opportunity, as these cars enter the used-car market, enabling it to compete more directly with new Chinese cars. 

This expands the pipeline of cars that WeBuyCars sells, and will restore some of its profit margin. 

However, it is not clear what the resale value of Chinese cars will be, as many are still relatively new and are part of financed deals.