If you bought a relatively inexpensive car ten or 20 years back, chances are it was built in South Africa, Europe, Japan or South Korea.

Of course, today affordability feels more relative than ever as consumers drown under stubbornly high interest rates, sky-high fuel prices and a general cost of living that seems to laugh at what people earn nowadays.

But were it not for a certain country located about 8,000km to the north-east, things would be a lot worse for the entry-level car consumer in Mzansi.

In recent years India has become something of an industrial powerhouse, churning out relatively affordable cars that South Africans are lapping up in bigger numbers than ever.

India currently ranks as the fourth-largest automotive producer in the world. While most of its output is consumed domestically, South Africa is its biggest export market, accounting for 17.7% of the country’s vehicle exports in the last financial year, according to India Today.

But whereas the Chinese importers are making huge inroads in Mzansi’s middle ground, particularly if we’re talking SUVs in the R400,000 to R800,000 bracket, Indian-built imports are dominating in the more budget-friendly space below that.

Our research shows that 92% of all the passenger car model ranges that start under R250,000 are sourced from India. The same applies to 76% of all cars priced beneath R300,000 and 60% of everything starting under R400,000.

And they’re selling like hotcakes too.

IOL tallied up the 20 best selling passenger car models in the second quarter of 2024, and 13 of them are built in India.

While the front runners were the locally-built Volkswagen Polo Vivo with 5,967 sales and Toyota’s Corolla Cross with 4,797, the Indian-built Suzuki Swift (3,976) and Toyota Starlet (3,537) accounted for significant volumes in third and fourth places, as did the sixth-placed Hyundai Grand i10 (2,749) and eighth-placed Nissan Magnite (2,439).

South Africa’s best-selling passenger vehicles in the second quarter of 2024. Indian-built models are in red. Picture: Jason Woosey.

These numbers show that South Africans are clearly hungry for affordable cars.

“Certainly, vehicle sales in the new car segment have seen a trend towards buying down, with a large focus on entry-level options. Where these are not viable, consumers are turning to used vehicles,” Brandon Cohen, National Chairperson of the National Dealer Association of SA (NADA), told IOL.

The Hyundai Grand i10, built in Chennai, India, is one of SA’s most popular hatchbacks. Picture: Supplied.

Four in 10 cars sourced from India

In 2023, 42% of all the passenger vehicles sold in South Africa, by volume, were imported from India, according to figures presented by Toyota earlier this year, which is a substantial increase over the 28% recorded in 2019.

The big winner in this game is Suzuki Auto South Africa, which broke through the 50,000 unit barrier for the first time ever in the past financial year. It is now fighting Volkswagen for second place in our market.

Its sales have tripled in just four years, from 16,527 units in 2020, and the last 10 years has seen over 600% growth.

While Suzuki Auto SA primarily sourced vehicles from Japan and Hungary in the earlier days, today almost everything it sells comes from Maruti Suzuki of India.

Maruti, which recently produced its 30-millionth car, has dominated the Indian car market since the mid-1980s and currently enjoys a market share of 42% in India.

Suzuki Auto SA’s brand marketing manager Brendon Carpenter attributes Maruti Suzuki’s success to a combination of its investment in research and development resources and the ability to produce quality vehicles at huge scale for both domestic and global markets.

“Given the strength of the Suzuki brand in India; and the opportunity to expand Suzuki Auto SA’s local product line-up, it was an easy decision to source new models from India”, Carpenter told IOL.

The first model sourced from India and sold in South Africa locally was the Suzuki Alto in 2009.

The economical Suzuki Swift is the company’s best seller in South Africa and is also popular with the rental industry. Picture: Supplied.

But it’s not just Suzuki’s local importer that’s benefiting from the industrial powerhouse that is Maruti Suzuki.

Through its international affiliations, Toyota South Africa imports four of its products from Maruti Suzuki. The most popular of these are the Starlet hatchback, which is based on the Suzuki Baleno, and the Urban Cruiser, which is related to the Suzuki Grand Vitara, albeit built at a Toyota plant in Bidadi. The Toyota Rumion (Ertiga) and Vitz (Celerio) also enjoy a solid following.

Make-or-break models

The sourcing of cars from India has proven to be a make-or-break for many car companies in South Africa.

Suzuki and Toyota had luck on their side. Ford SA was not so fortunate after its parent company exited the Indian market, effectively pulling the plug on models like the Figo and entry versions of the EcoSport. A Mahindra deal to replace the latter fell through in 2020.

On the flip side, Renault owes much of its local success to the Indian-built Kwid, Triber and Kiger. The latter also forms the basis of the Nissan Magnite, which is the country’s second most popular compact SUV.

The Korean importers too, have benefited from The Golden Sparrow. The Hyundai Grand i10, for instance, is SA’s sixth most popular passenger car, while the Kia Sonet remains a popular player in the compact SUV space.

The new Citroen C3 Aircross Max is significantly cheaper than its predecessor. Picture: Supplied.

Stellantis South Africa may well emulate this success with its Citroen brand in the coming years. In 2023 it introduced the new Indian-built C3 budget car at a substantially lower price than the Euro model it replaced. And this week it launched the new C3 Aircross Max, which costs R100,000 less than before.

These new products might lack some of the glamour and refinement seen in the French-built models, but they have been specifically developed for the wants and needs of emerging markets and given the kind of value and practicality on offer, that can only be a good thing for us.

India’s own car brands have enjoyed mixed success in South Africa. Mahindra has done well with its Scorpio Pik-Up which is partially assembled locally. It was the country’s fifth best-selling bakkie last year.

Tata, on the other hand, exited the South African market after its products proved too rudimentary for local tastes. Judging by the reviews of its modern model range in India, Tata certainly seems to have turned the corner. But will the brand ever return to our shores?

Either way, South Africa’s entry-level market is swarming with economical and affordable models sourced from India. Were it not for these your budget car options would be limited to the Proton Saga (from R209,900), Kia Picanto (R260,995) and Volkswagen Polo Vivo (R266,600).

Just keep in mind that many entry-level vehicles compromise safety for the sake of affordability.

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IOL Motoring