WeBuyCars rolling out ‘supermarkets’ across South Africa

South Africa’s premier car buying platform, WeBuyCars, revealed that it is now selling over 15,000 cars a month from its 17 supermarkets and 93 buying pods. 

This improved operational performance has greatly boosted the company’s financial results, with its revenue growing 15.2% to R13.1 billion. 

Core headline earnings, the company’s preferred financial metric, also showed strong growth, rising by 26.4% to R508.2 million in the six months ended 31 March. 

WeBuyCars said the key drivers of this growth were higher trading volumes, higher average prices resulting in improved margins, and cost efficiencies driven by economies of scale. 

Buying and selling volumes at 92,339 and 91,392 units were up 12.9% and 13.5%, respectively. 

The number of vehicles bought and sold continued to grow, with sales volumes surpassing 15,000 units in four of the last six months and reaching an all-time monthly record for WeBuyCars of 16,294 units in November 2024.

The company is continuing to pour cash into its technology platform, particularly in the sorting of new leads for individuals to buy cars, resulting in operational efficiencies and improved margins. 

Its core headline earnings per share, the basic earnings per share and the headline earnings per share were impacted by the new share issues in February, March and April 2024, with 83,185,241 ordinary shares issued. 

These new shares were issued in terms of the pre-listing capital raise, which shareholders approved before the listing of WeBuyCars on the JSE on 11 April 2024, and relate to the corporate restructuring following the unbundling from Transaction Capital. 

Further details regarding these share issues are contained in the Integrated Annual Report for the year ended 30 September 2024.

The company has an ambitious target of buying and selling 23,000 vehicles per month by the 2028 financial year, with its expansion plans being on track. 

Key to this expansion is the continued investment in the company’s physical infrastructure, such as vehicle supermarkets and buying pods, as well as in its technology platform. 

In the six-month period to 31 March, WeBuyCars added 10 new buying pods, bringing its national footprint to 93. 

It also relocated its Pietermaritzburg supermarket to a larger site and expanded capacity at its Polokwane, Joburg South, Riverhorse Valley, and Gqeberha facilities. 

The company also opened its first vehicle supermarket in the North-West province in Rustenburg on 1 October, with capacity for 300 vehicles. 

WeBuyCars plans to add two new supermarkets to its portfolio before the end of the year, with a new facility in Vereeniging and Lansdowne in the Western Cape. 

It will also open a new supermarket in Pretoria North in December 2025. Both the facilities in Cape Town and Pretoria will have the capacity to accommodate 1,300 vehicles each. 

The company said that despite global and local developments, it remains cautiously optimistic, with data pointing to improved consumer confidence and confirming South Africa’s resilience. 

While the Government of National Unity (GNU) may introduce short-term complexity, it also presents an opportunity for renewed focus on stability and growth, the company said. 

Against this backdrop, the company said it would continue to focus on what it does best – simplifying the vehicle buying and selling process.