The salary you need to buy the best-selling Chinese car in South Africa in 2026

You will need to earn at least R29,000 per month to afford South Africa’s most popular Chinese car – the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro – on a finance plan, according to a calculation by TopAuto.

Following its local launch a few years ago, the crossover quickly established itself not only as one of the country’s best-selling Chinese cars, but also as one of the best-selling models overall.

While the Tiggo 4 range includes the Cross, this model is yet to match the success of the Pro, which has taken the Chinese brand’s fight to the big hitters and often finds itself among the country’s five best-selling passenger cars.

Available in a single trimline – the LiT – the crossover SUV asks buyers to choose between a manual gearbox or a CVT, with a R30,000 difference between the two options.

In its manual configuration, which demands R269,900, the Tiggo 4 Pro is fitted with a 1.5-litre, naturally aspirated petrol engine boasting 83kW and 138Nm maximum power outputs.

Thanks to its five-speed manual gearbox, the crossover maintains an average fuel consumption of 7.0l/100km. It can also reach 100km/h in 11.5 seconds, and tops out at 180km/h.

The CVT variant is fitted with the same motor with identical power outputs, but thanks to its transmission maintains a slightly lower 6.8l/100km fuel consumption and identical acceleration and top-speed specs.

The Chery Tiggo 4 Pro LiT was introduced in 2023 as an affordable entry-level offering, but it is by no means ill-equipped.

The crossover rides on 16-inch alloy wheels, and features LED daytime running lights, hill assist, tyre-pressure monitoring, rear parking sensors, a reverse camera, a multifunction steering wheel, manual air conditioning, fabric seats, Bluetooth, four speakers, a 3.5-inch driver’s display, and a 10.25-inch media screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Tiggo Cross models overlap somewhat with the Tiggo 4 Pro models, yet have a much higher top-end, demanding up to R469,900 compared to the automatic LiT model, which retails for R299,900

What you need to earn

South African buyers looking to purchase the country’s best-selling Chinese car can use the following formula to calculate whether the vehicle would fit their budget:

• Car price – R269,900/R299,900
• Payment term – 60 months (5 years)
• Interest – 10.50%
• Deposit – 0%
• Balloon – No balloon payment
• Extras – No optional extras

According to this calculation, potential buyers will need to part with at least R5,801 per month for the manual Tiggo 4 Pro LiT, up to R6,446 per month for the CVT variant.

Financial experts also recommend that buyers avoid spending more than 20% of their gross salary on monthly vehicle repayments.

Should you be in the market for the Chinese crossover and choose to follow this advice, you will need to earn at least R29,005 per month to afford the manual model.

However, if you are in the market for the automatic variant, you will instead need to earn at least R32,230 per month, without a deposit or balloon payment.

Buyers looking to purchase either of these Chery models need to realise that these repayments do not include additional vehicle ownership costs that need to be considered when calculating affordability.

These include, among others, insurance, fuel, and maintenance, which could easily add a few thousand rand per month to your vehicle ownership costs.