Cars.co.za is pleased to announce the appointment of Nicole Capper Austin as Chief Marketing Officer, effective immediately, in a move that signals a deliberate shift in how the company thinks about marketing leadership, growth, and the future of the category.
The appointment follows the release of the Cars.co.za Industry Report at DealerCon 2025, which made one thing clear: the South African automotive retail market is no longer in a period of gentle evolution. It is in the middle of structural change. Buyer behaviour is shifting. Brand loyalties are fragmenting. New players are rewriting old rules. Affordability pressures are reshaping demand. And the idea of a single, stable “mainstream” car buyer is disappearing.
Capper Austin joins Cars.co.za after leading the growth of Humanz, an influencer marketing agency and technology platform, where she helped scale the business, build enterprise partnerships, and develop high-performing teams in a category that rewards performance and punishes fluff. Trained as a pharmacist, she brings a discipline grounded in evidence, decision-making under uncertainty, and operational rigour.
“This is not a hire about credentials alone,” Capper Austin said. “It is about temperament. About the ability to stay clear-headed when the category gets noisy, and to lead teams through change without losing either momentum or trust.”
Capper Austin’s relationship with cars is deeply personal. Raised in a family that built cars in their garages, she grew up around the craft and culture of automotive passion. “That matters,” Capper Austin added, “because we are not in the business of selling listings. We are in the business of helping people make meaningful decisions about identity, mobility, and independence under real economic pressure.” A leader who knows that cars are culture, not just a product, doesn’t build campaigns; they build communities.
The South African automotive retail market has become a landscape of overlapping subcultures, from budget-conscious first-time buyers to enthusiasts and family-focused consumers, each shaped by different needs, constraints, and aspirations. In such a fragmented market, Cars.co.za believes the future does not belong to louder marketing, but to deeper relevance, trust, and service.
The South African automotive market is no longer a single conversation. As our Industry Report shows, it has splintered into overlapping subcultures shaped by different needs, constraints, and aspirations: off-road, vintage, hot hatch, budget heroes, first-car pride, family logistics, track-day obsessives, and those who simply want reliability.
This is not a category that responds to mass persuasion. It responds to relevance. In a market where buyers are more informed, cautious, and fragmented than ever, the real work of Cars.co.za is not to shout louder but to understand these communities and earn a lasting place in their decisions. Nicole comes from influencer marketing, but she knows influence is not reach, it is trust. She understands that the future of this industry is not about interruption. It is about belonging.
About Cars.co.za
Cars.co.za is one of South Africa’s leading automotive digital marketplaces, connecting car buyers and sellers and providing trusted tools, content, and insights to help consumers make better car-buying and selling decisions.
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