Most Fuel Efficient Budget Cars in SA
We list the most fuel-efficient, budget-friendly cars currently available in South Africa!
Fuel prices in South Africa continue to negatively impact household budgets and new car buyers would be wise to consider fuel efficiency when considering purchasing a car. By considering the most fuel-efficient budget cars, you can literally save thousands of Rands every year!
In an effort to assist you in your decision-making process, we have created a fuel efficiency list that’s not only more relevant but also more diverse. Considering that most people can’t afford expensive cars, we decided to list the most fuel-efficient cars with an asking price of under R300 000.
Note that claimed manufacturer fuel consumption figures are used here and that real-world consumption figures will differ depending on a number of factors such as driving style, road conditions and so forth.
Pricing is accurate as of June 2024.
Most Fuel Efficient Budget Cars in South Africa
4.0 L/100 km – Fiat 500 Cult
The cute 500 is a bread-and-butter model for Fiat in South Africa and a refreshed Fiat 500 range was introduced to the South African market in 2021. A total of 3 distinct trim lines are on offer including the entry-level Cult, Club and Dolcevita. The Dolcevita derivatives are available in hatchback and cabriolet guise.
Fiat claims 4.0 L/100km across its 500 range but only the Cult derivative is priced under the R300k price barrier.
The familiar 63 kW/145 Nm 0.9-litre TwinAir turbopetrol engine is found under the bonnet and is paired to either a 5-speed manual transmission or a Manual Transmission Automatic (MTA), the latter of which is exclusively offered in the 500 Dolcevita hardtop and 500C Dolcevita cabriolet.
Pricing for the Fiat 500 starts at R271 900.
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4.2 L/100 km – Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GL Automatic
The all-new Suzuki Celerio is a popular choice in the budget car segment and the good news is that it’s more frugal than its predecessor. The Celerio 1.0 GL automatic claims 4.2 L/100km while the manual Celerio GA and Celerio GL claim a respectable 4.4 L/100km. The Celerio makes use of a 3.-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine with 49 kW and 89 Nm and is paired with either 5-speed manual transmission or 5-speed automated manual transmission. Pricing for the Celerio automatic is R225 900 while the base Celerio GA starts from R188 900 and the Celerio GL is priced from R210 900.
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4.2 L/100km – Toyota Vitz XR Automatic
The Toyota Vitz arrived in South Africa to replace the outgoing Agya as the firm’s budget car offering. The Vitz is based on the Suzuki Celerio as part of the Toyota-Suzuki product partnership and the Vitz is therefore powered by the same 3.-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine with 49 kW and 89 Nm and is paired with either 5-speed manual transmission or 5-speed automated manual transmission. The manual derivatives claim 4.4 L/100km.
Pricing for the Vitz starts from R189 900 while the Vitz Xr manual is priced from R219 900. The Vitz automatic is priced from R239 900. Toyota also recently introduced the Vitz X-Cite to the range with pricing starting from R189 900 for entry-level Vitz X-Cite while the high-spec XR X-Cite is priced from R219 900.
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4.4 L/100km – Suzuki S-Presso Automatic
The Suzuki S-Presso is a familiar and popular budget car in South Africa and with its 4-speed automatic derivatives claiming 4.4 L/100km, it’s a frugal city car. Note that the S-Presso 5-speed manual derivatives claim 4.6 L/100km which is excellent!
The Suzuki S-Presso employs a 3-cylinder, 1.0-litre petrol engine with 49 kW and 89 Nm. Pricing for the Suzuki S-Presso starts from R178 900 for the S-Presso 1.0 GL manual and goes up to R219 900 for the S-Presso S-Edition automatic.
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4.9 L/100km – Suzuki DZire / Suzuki Ignis / Suzuki Swift
Suzuki products are well known for delivering low real-world fuel consumption and the Dzire sedan (from R211 900), Swift (from R213 900), Ignis (from R230 900) and the above-mentioned Celerio (from R188 900) are no exception.
The Suzuki Dzire, Swift and Ignis share the same 1.2-litre petrol engine with 61 kW and 113 Nm on offer and all are offered with either a 5-speed manual or 5-speed automated manual transmission.
Suzuki claims 4.9 L/100km for all these derivatives, giving buyers lots of fuel-efficient products to choose from.
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4.9 L/100 km – Renault Kwid
The Renault Kwid is a popular budget car in South Africa and fuel efficiency for both manual and automatic derivatives are claimed at 4.9L/100km. It’s powered by a 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine with 50 kW and 91 Nm of torque. A 5-speed manual or automated manual (AMT) transmission drives the front wheels. There are 3 automatic Kwid derivatives on offer across 3 trim levels including Life, Zen and Climber. Pricing for the Kwid starts from R196 999.
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5.0 L/100km – Kia Picanto 1.0 LX / EX / EX+ Manual
A facelifted Kia Picanto recently arrived in South Africa with a revised look and updated feature specification. The Picanto range offers 2 engines for buyers to choose from including a 49 kW / 95 Nm 1.0-litre engine and a 1.25-litre engine with 62 kW and 122 Nm. Both engines can be had with a 5-speed manual transmission or a 4-speed automatic, but the manual derivatives are the most fuel-efficient with Kia claiming 5.0 L/100km.
Pricing for the Kia Picanto starts from R260 995 for the Picanto 1.0 LX manual while the Picanto 1.2 EX+ automatic is priced from R325 995.