
A diesel-powered car can be a great investment that can help you save money on fuel in the long run, as they generally provide better consumption while using the less expensive fuel.
Unfortunately, they can be hard to come by as most passenger vehicles on the road use petrol as their drink of choice.
Illustrating this point is the fact that crossovers – the increasingly popular body shape that splits the middle ground between hatchbacks and SUVs – only have nine models in South Africa with engines that consume the less refined propellant.
The cheapest diesel crossover in the country is the Mahindra XUV300, which can be had with a 1.5-litre turbocharged plant and starts at R315,999.
It has an official fuel consumption of 5.0l/100km, making it a very economical choice, but it’s beaten by the next cheapest entry on the list, the Ford EcoSport, which has a claimed consumption figure of 4.6l/100km.
The EcoSport diesel starts at R322,500, but it won’t be on the market for much longer as Ford has confirmed that it is no longer producing the car anywhere in the world, meaning it’ll disappear from showrooms once local stocks are depleted.
Renault, Kia, and Hyundai all have moderately-affordable diesel offerings as well in the form of the Duster, Seltos, and Grand Creta, but prices quickly escalate from there, as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Jaguar are the only other brands to offer crossovers with a thirst for the fuel.
Fuel-efficiency
These are all of the diesel-powered crossovers you can currently purchase in South Africa.
Click on the underlined links to visit TopAuto Car Prices for information on pricing and new models on offer from the various manufacturers.
Mahindra XUV300 1.5TD W6
- Fuel consumption – 5.0l/100km
- Power – 86kW/300Nm
- Starting price – R315,999
Ford EcoSport 1.5TDCi Ambiente
- Fuel consumption – 4.6l/100km
- Power – 74kW/205Nm
- Starting price – R322,500
Renault Duster 1.5dCi Zen manual
- Fuel consumption – 5.1l/100km
- Power – 66kW/210Nm
- Starting price – R377,999
Kia Seltos 1.5CRDi EX
- Fuel consumption – 5.1l/100km
- Power – 86kW/250Nm
- Starting price – R470,995
Hyundai Grand Creta 1.5D Executive
- Fuel consumption – 6.5l/100km
- Power – 84kW/250Nm
- Starting price – R562,900
BMW X1 sDrive18d xLine
- Fuel consumption – 5.0l/100km
- Power – 110kW/360Nm
- Starting price – R815,617
Mercedes-Benz GLA200d Progressive
- Fuel consumption – 5.1l/100km
- Power – 110kW/320Nm
- Starting price – R927,900
Mercedes-Benz GLB220d 4Matic Progressive
- Fuel consumption – 5.5l/100km
- Power – 140kW/400Nm
- Starting price – R998,388
Jaguar E-Pace D200 AWD R-Dynamic SE
- Fuel consumption – 5.3l/100km
- Power – 147kW/430Nm
- Starting price – R1,187,900
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