South African SUV buyers are ditching diesel and instead opting to go hybrid.
Figures provided by GAC Motors at the recent launch of the new GS3 Emzoom show that within the C-SUV segment, diesel currently holds a market share of 5.8% whereas hybrids occupy 18.3%.
This is in stark contrast to just a few years ago. In 2019, diesel dominated approximately 15% of C-SUV sales, and hybrids less than 1%.
Going back even further, diesel engines were found in around 35% of all C-SUV vehicles sold in 2014, whereas hybrid barely registered on the graph at this time.
Over this same period petrol has enjoyed a dominant lead, ranging between roughly 65% and 85% in market share.
The graph below, provided by GAC, shows the trends in fuel types in the C-SUV segment between 2014 and 2024:
The C-SUV segment is one of the most popular vehicle categories in South Africa, currently accounting for 18.9% of all passenger vehicle purchases.
It refers to vehicles that are between 4.3m and 4.6m long, which includes several of the nation’s top-selling models.
The shift in buying preferences away from diesel is most likely due to model availability rather than a conscious decision to ditch the propellant.
Hybrid SUVs have become far more prevalent in recent years than in decades prior as large parts of the world move to cleaner ways of transport.
Automakers including Volvo and Porsche have completely abandoned diesel technologies, while others have dialed back their investments into the traditionally dirtier fuel.
For instance, in 2014 the Nissan X-Trail was available with two turbo-diesel powertrains, and today, it’s petrol-only. Likewise, the Audi Q3 had a diesel option a decade ago, but not anymore.
Additionally, South Africa was on the receiving end of a slew of hybrid SUVs in modern times.
Just over the last four years, the market saw the arrival of electrified mass-market models such as the BMW X1, Haval Jolion and H6, Mazda CX-60, Suzuki Grand Vitara, and Toyota Corolla Cross, to name but a few.
Hybrids have also become more attainable in terms of their barrier to entry.
Only vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Lexus ES were shipped with hybrid systems a decade ago, with both examples being well on the upper end of the affordability spectrum.
In 2024, we have options such as the Corolla Cross, the most affordable hybrid in the country, that goes for R486,100.
It may not be cheap by everyone’s standards, but there’s no arguing it’s still more attainable than an S-Class, even if that S-Class was purchased 10 years ago.
The vast majority of bakkies sold in South Africa are diesel-powered, and bakkies consistently remain one of the largest vehicle segments.
This indicates that local buyers do not particularly dislike diesel, it mostly depends on whether they can afford a vehicle that runs on it.
Goodbye 4×4
GAC revealed two other interesting findings about C-SUVs in South Africa that detail a shift in customer wants and needs.
The first concerns the type of drivetrain. We learned that two-wheel drive (4×2) dominates the market with a share of close to 90%.
All-wheel drive (AWD) is second at approximately 10%, whereas four-wheel drive (4×4) sits at around 1%.
In 2014, the readings were less than 70% for 4×2, 22% for AWD, and 8% for 4×4.
This isn’t particularly unexpected given that probably the most important factor in a car is its price, with AWD and 4×4 drivetrains tending to be considerably more expensive than 4×2.
As such, with consumer wallets being squeezed for all their worth since the era of Covid-19, there has been a corresponding drop in market share for AWD and 4×4 C-SUVs.
The graph below, provided by GAC, shows the trends in drivetrain types in the C-SUV segment between 2014 and 2024:
In addition, GAC highlighted that an astounding 98% of C-SUVs registered in South Africa in 2024 feature some type of automatic gearbox.
This statistic can likely be explained through model availability, too.
Like hybrids, cars with automatic gearboxes are a dime a dozen nowadays while manual is a dying breed.
Vehicles such as the VW Tiguan were sold in both manual and automatic guises back in 2014, whereas today, it’s only the latter. Not to mention the huge variety of other automatic-only SUVs we’ve received in recent years.
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