The Kinsey report: all the winners
City cars & entry level cars
This combined section consists of small modern cars and a few ‘older’ stalwarts. Leader here is the Ford Figo 1.4 (built in India) which wins hands-down in least expensive service, repair and crash parts. The Polo Vivo follows with affordable repair and crash parts, but pricey rear brake shoes push the servicing section up somewhat – the good news being that they should last for 50 000km. Third spot goes to the Honda Brio 1.2, some R10 000 more expensive than the first two, and just pipping the Toyota Etios by less than R200.
Superminis
These modern-high tech cars, a blend of European and Eastern styling, have pretty robust sales figures and plenty of support from the young, appearance-conscious market segment. Top honours go to Citroen’s DS3 VTi, helped in no small degree by having the least expensive crash parts. Peugeot 208 comes in 2nd with good pricing for servicing (second to Renault) and crash parts (second to Citroen). The race for third place is narrowly won by Hyundai, just R71 less expensive overall than the Renault Clio, which has the distinction of having the most affordable servicing basket.
Family favourites
This is one of the largest volume segments in the SA market and one of the biggest categories in the survey. Clear market leader is the Toyota Corolla, which with 2 models available, the Quest and current Corolla, make up almost 2000 sales per month. The Quest, which is the previous Corolla model, just edges out its more modern counterpart by less than R1000. Toyota’s strength here lies in the very affordable accident repair costs which in some instances are half that of their competitors. This means that even quite old Corollas are often viable to repair.
In third place overall is the Hyundai Elantra , also third in crash parts costs, but competitive in both service (3rd) and repair parts prices (2nd).
Compact crossovers
Winner of this category is the Ford EcoSport 1.0T – another Indian-built vehicle – with its high-tech three-cylinder 999cc turbocharged engine producing over 90kW. Reasonably-priced crash parts are its main strength, helping lift it into top spot. Second is an old favourite, the Toyota Avanza, almost at opposite ends of the technology field, which is able to remain competitive in service parts costs and is comfortably ahead of the rest in the prices of its repair parts. Peugeot 2008 comes in third, also assisted by good crash parts prices.
Crossovers
This huge section probably accounts for a similar size slice of the market as the family favourites and is certainly one of the fastest growing segments of the market, as a trip to any shopping mall would confirm, fuel costs notwithstanding.
The Toyota Fortuner dominates with a massive overall lead of more than R30 000 on second place, but keep in mind that the Fortuner in the survey is an automatic and hence does not include clutch and flywheel prices. The second-placed Kia Sportage and third-placed Hyundai iX 35 both have expensive flywheels at R10 000 and R14 000 a pop, which narrows the gap a bit if removed from the equation. Very affordable crash parts prices however, still gives the Fortuner an unassailable advantage over its rivals.
Double cabs
India and China head off the Japanese onslaught in this section with the Tata Xenon doing the honours again. Once more, affordable crash part prices are the key factor keeping the Tata ahead. GWM’s Steed is also very competitive in its crash parts and maintains its second position in the category helped along by the lowest repair parts cost in the basket. In third is the Nissan NP300 double cab – still a good, reliable vehicle given its long lifespan in the SA market place.
Single cabs
For the first time we highlight several base-model single cabs – two ‘half’-tonners in the NP200 and the Chevrolet Utility and five full 1-tonne pick-ups.
And the winner here is the Nissan NP200 followed by big brother the Nissan NP300 Hardbody. Toyota’s Hilux comes in third. All these have picked up some benefit from the pricing of their accident parts.
Auto executives
As the category indicates, these are all well- appointed cars which proudly represent some of the main manufacturers in the market. Priced between R400 000 and R577 000, the price of their parts is less likely to be of concern to their first-time owners, but may well be of interest when they reach the used-car market.
Audi A4 just pips the Volvo S60 in a very close race, marginally beating the Volvo in each section. The Hyundai Sonata 2.4 follows closely in third.
