Features / 3 July 2026 / Warren Hawkins

The 10 cheapest cars in South Africa that aren’t Indian or Chinese

While most car brands on sale in South Africa trace their roots to Europe or Japan, most carmakers today have leveraged relationships with Chinese or Indian brands to sell cheaper vehicles in the local market.

Doing so lowers these manufacturers’ production costs, especially for low-cost offerings, leaving them free to prioritise higher-end models.

Often, this leads to more established automakers selling rebadged versions of emerging brands’ cars, which, thanks to this unique agreement, tends to benefit both parties.

Not only are the carmakers winning, but local buyers are also benefiting from lower car prices, thanks to cheaper labour and manufacturing costs in heavily industrialised countries like India and China.

As a result of these relationships, many vehicles sporting a Ford or Toyota badge may very well be a rebadged version of a vehicle sold in those markets.

The Ford Territory, for example, is based on the Chinese-market Ford Equator Sport, which is developed and manufactured by China’s Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC).

Similarly, responsibility for manufacturing all of Toyota’s locally sold budget offerings lies with Maruti Suzuki of India, with models like the Starlet, Vitz, and Urban Cruiser arriving as rebadged versions of the Baleno, Celerio, and Grand Vitara.

While this is not a new practice, it can create some confusion for car buyers not accustomed to it and those unaware of which brands have joint-venture agreements.

Of course, not all manufacturers do this, with brands like Honda and Kia keeping production close to home, while Toyota and VW have established overseas bases in well-performing markets.

Honda builds its cheapest local offering, the Fit, at its Suzuka Plant in Japan, while Kia still builds Picanto models at the Seosan manufacturing plant in South Korea.

While Toyota may rely on Maruti Suzuki to build its cheapest cars, it manufactures South Africa’s favourite vehicles locally, and VW’s Kariega plant is solely responsible for manufacturing every Polo in the world.

The cheapest cars in South Africa not from China or India

South Africa’s cheapest cars in every segment are all either offered by Indian or Chinese badges, or are offered by carmakers from one of these two nations.

As a result, the cheapest cars not shipped from these markets sell for quite a bit more than the sub-R200,000 price tags slapped on the country’s cheapest vehicles.

Below is a list of the ten cheapest cars in South Africa that are manufactured or assembled outside of India and China. Click on their underlined prices to learn more about each model.