South Africa’s most popular and fuel-efficient SUVs

 ·7 Feb 2019

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

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