Covering ground: Which vehicles clock up the most kilometres in SA?

While many motorists have been driving less in 2020 thanks to the continued lockdown and work-from-home trend, new data from AutoTrader has shown that some vehicles are continuing to clock up plenty of kilometres.

When analysing data related to cars listed on AutoTrader during October, it emerged that the most-driven cars are all commercial vehicles or people carriers.

Ford’s Transit panel van most-driven vehicle

The analysis revealed that Ford’s trusty Transit Custom van tops the list of the top 10 most-driven cars with a 2019 registration year that were listed in October 2020.

All over the world, motorists have been driving less this year. A recent survey by Hyundai in the UK, for instance, revealed that, while the average UK car was previously driven an average of 938km a month — this figure dropped to just 145km a month under the UK lockdown.

Some vehicles still clocking up mileage in lockdown

 However, according to AutoTrader CEO George Mienie, some vehicles are still being driven a great deal.

“Specifically, some vans, taxis, bakkies and people transporters are clocking up meaningful mileages.

“The vans are, of course, understandable,” Mienie said.

“All over the world, lockdown has translated into an increase in online shopping – which has created a demand for delivery vehicles.”

According to Deloitte’s 2020 Digital Consumer Trends survey, about 40% of consumers have done more online shopping during the lockdown.

Taxis have kept driving

Taxi traffic is also understandable as some stores have remained open throughout the lockdown and store workers have used taxis to get to and from work.

It is therefore not surprising to see the perennially popular Toyota Hi Ace making an appearance on the list.

Bakkies also among the most-driven vehicles

Several bakkies also appear on the list and this, too, does not come as a big surprise. That is because these workhorses are tools that can generate profits.

However, what is particularly interesting about the list of the top 10 most-driven cars with a 2019 registration year, is that the two most popular new bakkies in the land – the Toyota Hilux and the Ford Ranger (the latter is also South Africa’s most popular used bakkie) – don’t make an appearance.

Thus, while they may rule the popularity rankings, they’re not necessarily being driven as much as some other bakkies.

The 10 most-driven cars with a 2019 registration year are:

Rank	Model	Ave. Mileage (km)
1	Ford Transit Custom	106,792
2	Toyota HiAce	84,798
3	Nissan NV200	63,900
4	Fiat Doblo Cargo	53,000
5	Renault Trafic	51,500
6	Fiat Fullback	50,580
7	Toyota Land Cruiser 79	49,329
8	Isuzu D-Max	46,937
9	Fiat Fiorino	45,000
10	Volkswagen Kombi	43,291

Source: October 2020, AutoTrader