The most fuel efficient cars sold in South Africa
There are many fuel efficient cars you could drive today. Take the Nissan Leaf for example. It is the way of the future. A fully electric vehicle that you can charge at home, along with your iPhone. But at close to R500,000 for a small 4-seater car, and the range limit of 180 km's on a full charge, it's a deal breaker for many people.
So to provide a more realistic selection, we updated the post with fuel efficient models, from the current best-selling cars in South Africa. We feel this will give you a better idea of a practical vehicle, that can still save you money at the pumps.
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And further down we've put together a really interesting infographic of "7 Cars You Can Drive From Joburg to Cape Town for Under R1,000" Click here to skip directly to it.
No | Vehicle | L / 100 kms | Units Sold |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hilux 2.4 GD6 SRX | 7.13 | 3185 |
2 | Polo Vivo 1.4 Blueline | 5.8 | 2131 |
3 | Polo 1.0 TSI Bluemotion | 4.2 | 1713 |
4 | Fortuner 2.4 GD6 | 7.0 | 1333 |
5 | Ford Ecosport 1.0 Eco | 5.7 | 1169 |
6 | Auris Hybrid | 3.9 | 1126 |
7 | Corolla 1.4D | 4.5 | 1126 |
8 | Etios 1.5 | 6.0 | 731 |
9 | Renault Sandero Expression | 5.2 | 632 |
10 | Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost | 4.3 | 563 |
One of the questions that most car buyers over the age of 40 ask themselves prior to making a decision to buy – and something more young people should too – is how fuel efficient a car is.
In the current volatile South African economy , the unpredictable fuel price has placed greater importance on the ability of new cars to convert energy from fuel. But exactly how fuel efficient are South Africa’s top-selling passenger cars at the moment?
In order to present the most fuel efficient top-selling cars in South Africa, Drive South Africa has selected the vehicle models with the lowest fuel consumption in its category, based on litres per 100 km. Measuring fuel efficiency, each vehicle’s fuel consumption and fuel cost have been calculated over 100 km.
[thrive_text_block color=”note” headline=” Edit – 01/10/2018″] Yikes – at the current 2018 rate of fuel hikes, we may soon see the R20 per litre ceiling breached! Let’s hope for everyone, the situation improves.
What we have done – is created an updated list of fuel-efficient models available in South Africa for 2018. Check the new blog post right here!
And a great in-depth look into the frugal new Toyota Prius here!
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| Rank | Vehicle | Engine Size | Fuel Consumption(Combined) | Fuel Type | Inland Fuel Cost Per 100 km* | Coastal Fuel Cost Per 100 km* |
| 1 | Volkswagen Polo TSI Trendline | 1.2 | 4.9 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R63.16 | R61.05 |
| 2 | Toyota Auris XR HSD | 1.8 | 3.9 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R50.27 | R48.59 |
| 3 | Volkswagen Polo Vivo Blueline | 1.4 | 5.4 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R69.61 | R67.28 |
| 4 | Toyota Etios Hatch | 1.5 | 6 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R77.34 | R74.76 |
| 5 | Ford Fiesta TDCi Trend/Ambiente | 1.6 | 3.6 ℓ /100 km | Diesel | R40.46 | R39.28 |
| 6 | Ford EcoSport TDCi Trend/Titanium | 1.5 | 4.6 ℓ / 100 km | Diesel | R51.70 | R50.19 |
| 7 | Ford Figo TDCi Ambiente | 1.4 | 5.1 ℓ / 100 km | Diesel | R57.32 | R55.64 |
| 8 | BMW 3 Series 320d | 2.0 | 4.4 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R54.82 | R54.82 |
| 9 | Volkswagen Golf 7 Comfortline | 2.0 | 4.6 ℓ /100 km | Diesel | R51.93 | R50.42 |
| 10 | Datsun GO | 1.2 | 5.3 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R68.32 | R66.04 |
| 11 | Toyota Yaris Hybrid | 1.5 | 3.6 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R45.86 | R44.14 |
| 12 | Toyota Aygo | 1.0 | 4.4 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R56.05 | R53.94 |
| 13 | Toyota Corolla 1.4D | 1.4 Turbo Diesel | 4.5 ℓ / 100 km | Diesel | R47.39 | R45.59 |
| 14 | Toyota Prius 2016 | 1.8 | 3.7 ℓ / 100 km | 95 Unleaded | R47.14 | R45.36 |
* Fuel prices calculated using the Drive South Africa fuel cost calculator
From the above it is evident that Toyota is still a leader in manufacturing the most fuel efficient cars in South Africa.
The Toyota Auris gets you across a distance of 100km for under R50 on 95 Unleaded on a “1.8 motor”. That is nothing short of spectacular when it comes to being fuel efficient because smaller motors are normally disregarded or completely dismissed after their ability to climb hills are assessed. But climbing hills is not all there is to it. Especially if you think about the drive from Durban to Johannesburg after you pass Van Reenens. Beyond that it’s all flat land and based on what Drive South Africa came up with your wallet will smile at you if you were to drive a Toyota Auris or an Etios hatch.
[thrive_text_block color=”note” headline=”7 Cars That Will Take You From Jo’burg to Cape Town For Under R1,000!”] Here’s a bonus updated for 2016. For the graphic below, we used the current inland petrol price of R13.26 and the inland diesel price of R11.29. Besides the Toyota Prius, we chose from the popular models being bought currently in South Africa, according to the NAAMSA sales figures. Click the image to enlarge [/thrive_text_block]
Speaking of fuel efficient, one of our marketing people had a chat with an Uber driver here in Durban last week about how fuel efficient certain cars are. For those that don’t know, Uber has a partner here in Durban that has quite a number of cars on the road. So drivers who work for that Uber partner get to drive different vehicles every day. They work 12-hour shifts and when they complete their shift, they hand over the car they drove to someone else who then starts a new 12-hour shift. This puts them in a unique position to do comparisons on things like power, road holding and of course fuel efficiency. This gentleman reckons that an Etios Hatch that works 24 hours around the clock has to be refuelled only once every week. Wow! If that is not fuel efficient, I don’t know what is.
With fuel efficiency playing a more and more important role in our buying and driving decisions, we’d like to introduce you to a tool that can help you calculate your monthly fuel spend
The South African Fuel Cost Calculator works out how much your vehicle costs in fuel to run per month. The previous month fuel spend comparison is a nifty added feature of the calculator, telling you how much more (or less) you’re spending on fuel for the month compared to last month. Give it a try. It can’t hurt to know whether you’re spending too much or where you can trim the fat.
Our data sources are as follows:
- April’s top-selling vehicles data – NAAMSA
- Fuel cost calculation per 100 km – Drive South Africa Fuel Cost Calculator
- Fuel efficiency data – Respective vehicle manufacturers
The above has been very educational; for us here at Durban South Toyota and we trust it was for you too.
Forward to a fuel efficient 2016
[thrive_text_block color=”note” headline=”Enquiry On Etios”] [thrive_link color=’red’ link=’http://deals.durbansouthtoyota.co.za/new-toyota-etios/’ target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ align=”]Want an Etios? Enquire Right Here![/thrive_link] [/thrive_text_block]
I wonder why the Yaris HSD was left out of this fuel Economy run? I am sure it is much lighter on fuel than the Auris HSD. The Yaris’s 1NZ-FXE has been toyota’s award winning engine for some time now.
Hey Nikhil. Thank you for giving us a really great question.
This is Arthur. I did the research for this post. The compilers of the list took cars in each respective category. To put that in perspective, the Auris is in the same category as the Corolla and the Corolla Quest. The Etios hatch is in the same category as the Yaris and the Aygo.
So while the Yaris may be a more fuel efficient car than the Auris, it was not considered in the same category for the purposes of this post and the included list.
I trust that answers your question.
I was also wondering about the Yaris. Thanks for your explanation.
Ek sou graag net wil weet hoekom toyota se prys so hoog is. Ek moes 4jaar wag om n fortuner 2.5 te kan koop wat ook nog R300 000 gekos ht. Vra maar net
Hello Nici.
Dankie dat u tyd geneem het uit u naweek om ‘m knaende nuuskierigheid te bevredig.
Hier by Toyota spandeer ons miljoene rande jaarliks om navorsing te doen en onderdele struktureel te verbeter sodat ons Toyota bestuurders nie net veiligheid kan waarborg nie, maar ook ‘n plesierige ervaring op die pad te kan verskaf.
Ons glo dat alles wat ons doen heeltemal noodsaaklik is, en ongellukkig vir ons as ‘n handelaar en vir u as ‘n koper van ons voertuie is ons blootgestel aan dinge soos belasting, oorsese geldeenhede en invoerkoste van onderdele.
Terwyl ons nie altyd die koste van alle voertuie laag kan hou nie (as gevolg van faktore buite ons beheer), kan ons u verseker van bobaas kwalitiet in elke voertuig wat ons verkoop.