South Africa’s most popular and fuel-efficient SUVs

A February petrol price increase combined with the high possibility of a fuel levy increase in the 2019 budget means that South African motorists will once again have to factor in the fuel efficiency when buying a new car.

As part of its medium-term budget policy statement in October 2018, National Treasury confirmed that the RAF was a major financial concern.

“The fund represents a potentially large liability,” it said.

“Despite a 30c increase to the RAF levy in the 2018 budget, the fund’s liability is expected to grow to R393 billion by 2021/22 from R206 billion at present.”

To combat this, the RAF will require “further large increases to the fuel levy in each of the next three years” to manage the short-term liability, it said.

With the possibility of major fuel hikes on the horizon, BussinessTech looked at the most fuel-efficient SUVs in South Africa right now which also feature on Naamsa’ bestsellers list for January 2019.

*Denotes a diesel variant.

Audi Q5

• 238 units sold 
• From – R704,000*
• Average fuel consumption: 4.9 litres/100km

Mahindra KUV

• 168 units sold 
• From – R134,999
• Average fuel consumption:  5.9 litres/100km

Volkswagen Tiguan

• 448 units sold 
• From – R412,000
• Average fuel consumption: 6.1 litres/100km

Nissan Qashqai 

• 171 units sold 
• From – R351,900
• Average fuel consumption: 6.2 litres/100km

Toyota CH-R

• 176  units sold 
• From – R346,200
• Average fuel consumption:  6.3 litres/100km

Ford EcoSport

• 679 units sold
• From – R254,950
• Average fuel consumption:  6.4 litres/100km

Toyota Rush

• 425 units sold 
• From – R312,000
• Average fuel consumption: 6.6 litres/100km

Mazda CX-5

• 408 units sold 
• From – R398,300
• Average fuel consumption: 6.8 litres/100km

Ford Everest

• 371 units sold 
• From – R467,100
• Average fuel consumption: 6.9 litres/100km

Renault Duster

• 220 units sold 
• From – R255,900
• Average fuel consumption: 7.0 litres/100km

Mazda CX-3

• 363 units sold 
• From – R299,400
• Average fuel consumption:  7.1 litres/100km

Toyota Rav4

• 476 units sold 
• From – R393,800
• Average fuel consumption: 7.7 litres/100km

Kia Sportage

• 165 units sold 
• From – R386,995
• Average fuel consumption:  7.7 litres/100km

Hyundai Creta

• 238 units sold 
• From – R349,900
• Average fuel consumption: 7.9 litres/100km

Hyundai Tucson

• 225 units sold 
• From – R413,900
• Average fuel consumption: 8.9 litres/100km

Toyota Fortuner

• 1,000 units sold 
• From – R477,600
• Average fuel consumption: 10.5  litres/100km

Read: The best selling SUVs in South Africa right now