A new Ford bakkie, the official petrol price for July, and a new Chinese car brand coming to South Africa

These were the five biggest stories in South Africa’s transport industry this week.

New Ford bakkie coming to South Africa – But there’s a catch

A new Ford bakkie is coming to South Africa this year, but it won’t be sold by Ford.

The Durban-based company Rospa International recently confirmed it is importing the Ford F-250, F-350, and F-450 Super Duty to our market.

The Ford F-Series is the full-size counterpart to the midsize Ranger, offering even more power across a selection of petrol and diesel engines.

Official petrol price increases for July

The official fuel price adjustments came into effect this week on Wednesday, 2 July, 2025.

Unfortunately, both petrol and diesel were hit with fairly substantial increases.

Petrol was raised by a minimum of 55c per litre, while diesel went up by 82c per litre.

New Toyota Prado revealed – With one big difference

Toyota has unveiled a new version of the Prado tailored for business owners.

The popular SUV has been converted to a commercial vehicle, removing the rear seats in favour of a greatly expanded storage area.

The new model is scheduled to go on sale in Europe in August, though the company has not confirmed whether it be rolled out to other markets.

New Chinese car brand coming to South Africa

Chery has confirmed that its latest marque – Lepas – will launch in South Africa in 2026.

Lepas is a premium alternative to Chery’s own vehicles, and currently offers a single SUV called the L8.

Lepas will be the sixth badge under the Chery umbrella in South Africa, including Chery, Jaecoo, Jetour, Omoda, and the upcoming iCar.

How much it costs to replace a single manhole cover in South Africa

It costs approximately R850 to restore a single manhole cover in South Africa.

This figure was revealed when the City of Cape Town disclosed that it had spent R2.4 million replacing missing and stolen sewer drain covers around the metro.

This figure accounted for the period from July 2024 to May 2025 and involved the replacement of 2,824 manhole covers, working out to R849.85 per cover.