How much South African-made cars cost in the UK, France, Germany, and Brazil

South Africa is home to several different car factories, all of which produce hundreds of models every day.

Many of these have gone on to become the most popular vehicles in the country, such as the Ford Ranger bakkie, the BMW X3 SUV, and the VW Polo hatchback.

However, it is important to note that the vast majority of cars manufactured here are intended for export and are shipped off to different markets around the world.

This raises an interesting question as to how much people are paying for these vehicles in other nations, and whether South African consumers are actually benefitting from local production in the form of lower prices and no import duties.

Overseas vs South African prices

We selected the Ford Ranger, BMW X3, and VW Polo for our international comparison as these are three of the newest options produced in South Africa.

The current-gen Ranger and Polo were introduced in 2022, and the fourth-gen X3 is brand-new, debuting in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The Polo is particularly relevant as it is now exclusively made in South Africa, as Volkswagen has shut down production of the B-segment hatchback at all its other facilities as it slowly makes the transition to its ID. line of electric vehicles (EVs).

We compared the price of these three cars in Brazil, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK), as these four countries are comparable to South Africa in terms of their vehicle landscape.

The UK and the European Union are also two of the largest export regions for South African units, making it easier to compare prices between our markets.

First up is the new BMW X3, which is created in Rosslyn near Pretoria and has a local starting price of R1,136,417.

You can see what motorists are required to pay for an X3 in France, Germany, and the UK below, based on the companies’ official websites:

Note that the next-gen X3 is not on BMW Brazil’s website as of the time of writing, and is therefore not on the list.

Interestingly, France is paying more than its neighbours for the same car, and its even paying more than we are in South Africa.

Overall, the window stickers are all pretty similar, but while this means we aren’t paying a massive premium, we are also not seeing much benefit to our wallets from local production.

Something else to consider is that the average salary is much higher in all three of these countries relative to ours, so South Africans are paying the most in real terms.

Next up is the Ford Ranger, which is manufactured at the Blue Oval’s Silverton plant in Pretoria and costs a minimum of R522,600 for a five-seater option.

The tricky thing about comparing bakkie prices is that the body type has far more variations than a typical passenger car, being offered in single-cab, super-cab, and double-cab styles while also having an extensive catalogue of trim levels, engines, and gearboxes, as well as 4×2 and 4×4 setups.

To simplify matters, we only looked at the cheapest double cab specification but prices for the Ranger still fluctuated a lot more than the X3, as you can see below:

This time around, its South Africa that’s the clear winner in terms of price tags.

It’s worth pointing out that in all four cases, the cheapest option was the base XL specification, so this is an apples-to-apples comparison, relatively speaking.

One possible explanation for the discrepancy between our market and Europe’s is that pickups are not as popular over there, whereas vans and estate cars are the preferred options for companies and households in need of extra cargo space, and so a model like the Ranger comes at a considerable premium for individuals who still want the bakkie experience.

These countries also have substantial emissions taxes on combustion vehicles as part of national policies to encourage the adoption of new-energy transport like hybrids and EVs.

Finally, there’s the VW Polo, made in Kariega in the Eastern Cape, which costs at least R362,900.

You can see what the South African Polo sells for in each country below:

This time around, it’s the UK that’s paying the most, which is unusual given that it does sell the base 70kW model.

Brazil, on the other hand, only provides the higher-spec 85kW hatchback, meaning they have the best deal in terms of what you pay for versus what you get.