Cheap cars that were discontinued in South Africa in 2023

The first quarter of 2023 was a bloodbath for affordable vehicles in South Africa.

Over the last three months, local car buyers were told that they will soon no longer have access to a host of popular cars including the Hyundai Atos and Kia Rio hatchbacks.

Similarly, the longstanding Ford EcoSport, along with the Suzuki Vitara Brezza and its step-sibling, the Toyota Urban Cruiser, are on their way out.

All of these models were among the most affordable vehicles in their respective segments, and each one of them regularly grabbed a spot in the country’s best-selling ranks.

On a related note, Renault also pulled the plug on its high-performance Renault Sport (RS) subsidiary in January, with the Megane RS Ultime arriving at the end of the year being the final model to bear the RS badge.

But why?

All the above-mentioned vehicles are exiting the South African market for various reasons.

The EcoSport was the least surprising considering it’s been on sale for three months shy of a decade and was bound to be replaced eventually. However, Ford did not confirm which one of its other models, if any, will assume the EcoSport’s place.

It’s a similar story with the Atos, as this small city car is no longer being built anywhere in the world, either.

The Rio, on the other hand, will only be removed from right-hand-drive markets but will continue being produced for left-hand-drive countries, presumably to free up space on the assembly lines for the manufacturer’s other, more popular global models.

The Vitara Brezza is then losing its spot in Suzuki’s South African catalogue as India’s Maruti Suzuki which builds the crossover made the decision to cease exports of the next-generation model to our market.

Subsequently, the Urban Cruiser is also leaving the country as it was developed alongside the Suzuki.

What’s available

There are a limited number of units on offer for the Atos, EcoSport, Rio, Urban Cruiser, and Vitara Brezza in South Africa, though again, not all the manufacturers revealed how many examples they have left to sell.

In early March, for instance, Hyundai confirmed that it has 500 units of the Atos left, while at the same time, Ford said it does not know how many EcoSports it’s still going to receive from its Indian supplier – who ceased production in 2022 – before stock runs out.

As such, if one of these cars is on your shortlist, it’s recommended to move fast.

Below, we detail the current options from the discontinued vehicles that are still available for purchase.

Click on the underlined names for more information.

Ford EcoSport

Each model is sold with a 4-year/120,000km warranty.

Hyundai Atos

Each model is sold with a 5-year/150,000km warranty with an additional 2-year/50,000km powertrain warranty, while the Cargo variants also get a 1-year/15,000km service plan.

Kia Rio

Each model is sold with a 5-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and 4-year/60,000km service plan (2-year/30,000km for the 1.2 LS).

Suzuki Vitara Brezza

Each model is sold with a 5-year/200,000km warranty and 4-year/60,000km service plan.

Toyota Urban Cruiser

Each model is sold with a 3-year/100,000km warranty and 3-services/45,000km service plan.