Yeah definitely, and you more likely to get out the deal with a massive residual with a porsche anyway.
Point is R2M isn't big boys anyway, middle/senior type management can get a R2M car now financed in a specific way. So yes there are plenty people with only that Porsche, M4, M850i etc, renting a spot and having the cheapest possible medical aid 😅
HEAVILY dependent on industry and even then it is a relatively small % of people in an already small % of the population who would be willing to do that... If you did though, I would guess there are flashier things you would want to spend eye watering amounts of interest on... I am sure the volume has dropped with these price jumps - it certainly feels this way just (as I mentioned above) seeing how many cars you see driving around from the new generations.
Sweeping statements about how R2M is the new R1M are true of the car industry in terms of how models have crept upwards like-for-like. What they absolutely DO NOT reflect is what has happened with salaries in the past 5-6 years. All that has happened is that finance houses have 'unlocked' a few more years which people were probably doing anyway to refinance their residuals on cars that had depreciated far below the 'residual value'... They then seem to have added a residual option over and above this (which is horrifying because people are now basically bonding cars)... I mean the bond on my house is 10 years but someone is going to be buying a car essentially over 7 years + 2 more years when they refinance their R800K residual LOL. Hope the instant gratification is worth the financial suicide LMFAO. The point I am trying to make is that even if you do 'qualify', you have to be really, REALLY committed to that flash to spend the amounts being asked now AND hope you outrun the depreciation which, lets face it, is going to be catastrophic on a BMW relative to a Porsche.
That said, you are 100% right in terms of certain people doing anything and everything in the pursuit of image.
Imagine: from July someone can buy a car with no motorplan, finance it over 84 months, stop their insurance after month 1, have it sitting on jack stands or junk-tier tyres, broken from year 4 or 5 and still be owing R800K after 7 years. How someone finances it is up to them but at some point it is just a high risk rental of the car... Even then though you still need an objectively high salary to buy one. 'Only' R70K nett is not common... perhaps in some industries and roles it is, but certainly not common in terms of even the top 1% of households in SA let alone individuals.
Again sample of 1: 6 years ago it would have been a no brainer to walk into a BMW and walk out with an M5. 3 years ago I sat in an F90 and had a hard decision to make despite it being 'affordable' for me. Today the new cars that would be that 'no-brainer' option are the M2C or TT RS which is around R1.2-1.5M... These are cars 2 tiers lower than I would have shopped for previously.
Whether I could be driving an M8 if I was also willing to be an absolute moron is a moot point - I just don't have the stomach to pay somebody that much in interest and have that much money at risk... (and this is outside of things like a GT3RS or 911 Turbo S etc being in that ballpark and likely to be far safer bets). For even high earners by SA standards, you have to hope for a great bonus (few and far between), an inheritance of some kind or be sorted with a paid up house and a good mix of investments/multiple rental properties etc. My feeling is that you would have to own a successful, sustainable business, specialist medical practice or to get a tender to own these 'the right way'.
TL;DR: RIP Salaried employees trying to keep up with the Joneses even with these band-aids.
