Indian-built cars from the likes of Suzuki, Toyota, and Renault are expected to retain their value far better than any other vehicles in South Africa.
These insights were revealed by major market intelligence group Lightstone.
Cars manufactured on the South Asian sub-continent were responsible for roughly 70% of the 108,000 light vehicles under R300,000 sold in the domestic market last year, as reported by Engineering News.
Suzuki accounted for 43% of those transactions, Renault made up 19%, while Toyota represented 17%.
Lightstone employed its sophisticated residual value forecasting tool to gauge how much value these Indian-made autos would retain should their owner decide to let them go in 2025.
It determined that these cars are expected to have a retention rate of 86% – meaning owners would only take a 14% hit provided the vehicle is within the average mileage and condition parameters for its age.
In monetary terms, if you pay R300,000 for a car manufactured in India today, you should be able to get R258,000 for it in a year’s time.
South African-made cars were a close second behind those assembled in India, boasting a retention rate of 85.8%.
Meanwhile, Chinese-built vehicles are expected to retain as much as 83.9% of their original purchase price, while those sourced from South Korea should hold 83.6%.
Suzuki Fronx being exported from India to South Africa
What’s on offer
Buyers scouting for an Indian-made car from either Suzuki, Renault, or Toyota in South Africa have plenty of options to choose from.
While Suzuki is a Japanese brand, it manufactures the majority of the vehicles that it sells in the domestic market in India under the Maruti Suzuki division, essentially all of them except the Ignis, which is put together in Spain.
Suzuki’s Indian-built cars and their local prices include:
| Model | # of specifications | Price range |
|---|---|---|
| Suzuki Baleno | 4 | R260,900 to R336,900 |
| Suzuki Celerio | 3 | R188,900 to R225,900 |
| Suzuki Ciaz | 4 | R286,900 to R347,900 |
| Suzuki DZire | 3 | R217,900 to R254,900 |
| Suzuki Ertiga | 3 | R290,900 to R352,900 |
| Suzuki Fronx | 4 | R298,900 to R355,900 |
| Suzuki Grand Vitara | 5 | R358,900 to R542,900 |
| Suzuki Jimny | 7 | R399,900 to R479,900 |
| Suzuki S-Presso | 6 | R178,900 to R219,900 |
| Suzuki Swift | 7 | R219,900 to R478,900 |
| Suzuki XL6 | 4 | R353,900 to R389,900 |
Likewise, Toyota has production facilities all over the world, but for its entry-level models, it prefers to make liberal use of its partnership with Suzuki.
As a result, the country’s best-selling manufacturer sells rebadged versions of Suzuki’s Baleno, Celerio, Ertiga, Fronx, and Grand Vitara in South Africa, dubbed the Starlet, Vitz, Rumion, Starlet Cross, and Urban Cruiser, respectively.
These models are detailed below:
| Model | # of specifications | Price range |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Rumion | 5 | R301,400 to R386,500 |
| Toyota Starlet | 5 | R252,100 to R339,000 |
| Toyota Starlet Cross | 4 | R299,900 to R359,300 |
| Toyota Urban Cruiser | 3 | R342,500 to R382,900 |
| Toyota Vitz | 5 | R189,900 to R239,900 |
Renault gets fewer of its cars from India than Suzuki or Toyota, though it still has several offerings to choose from spanning the hatchback, crossover, and MPV spheres.
These comprise:
| Model | # of specifications | Price range |
|---|---|---|
| Renault Kiger | 7 | R249,999 to R359,999 |
| Renault Kwid | 5 | R196,999 to R227,999 |
| Renault Triber | 5 | R228,999 to R266,999 |
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