The Safest And Unsafest Budget Cars In South Africa

These vehicles were then categorised into three groups, based on the safety ratings achieved. Seven vehicles achieved ‘acceptable safety’ ratings (an improvement from last year’s report, which only had two), sixteen achieved ‘moderate safety’ and four were classed as ‘poor safety’ – or – ‘most likely to kill you.’

Let’s take a look at the findings.

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The Safest And Unsafest Entry-Level Vehicles

First off, let’s take a look at the seven vehicles that scored 50 or higher, making them the safest entry-level vehicles currently available. Three of these belonged to Toyota, and one each to Volkswagen, Renault, Smart, Suzuki and Honda.

Of these, the VW Take Up! achieved the highest score, with 6.38 out of a possible 7.5. This was followed by the Renault, and then the Toyota Aygo.  

Acceptable Safety: 

• Volkswagen Take Up!

• Renault Sandero 66kw turbo expression

• Toyota Aygo 1.0

• Smart ForTwo

• Toyota Etios Hatch 1.5 Xi HB

• Honda Amaze 1.2 Trend

• Suzuki Ignis 1.2 GL

Vehicles placed into the ‘moderate safety’ category achieved scores between 20 and 50, with the Suzuki Celerio achieving the highest rating with 3.57 out of 7.5, and the lowest being the Haval 1 with a dismal score of 2.78. 

Moderate Safety:

• Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GA

• Datsun GOMid

• BAIC D20 hatch 1.3 Comfort

• Datsun GO+ Mid

• Datsun GO+ Panel Van

• Kia Picanto 1.0 Street

• Suzuki Swift hatch 1.2 GA

• Suzuki Swift DZire sedan 1.2 GA

• Mahindra KUV100 1.2 NXT K4+

• Honda Brio hatch 1.2 Trend

• Hyundai i10 Grand 1.0 Motion

• Renault Kwid 1.0 Expression 5 dr

• Kia Picanto MT 1.0 Style

• GWM M4

• Nissan Micra Active 1.2 Visia+

• Haval 1

And then, the following four vehicles achieved the lowest scores – all under 20 – with both the Nissan NP200 and the JMC achieving an absolute zero. We’ve spoken a little bit about the Nissan before, and other zero-rated vehicles, and the dangers that come with driving it.

Of these four, the Datsun achieved the best rating, with a score of 0.85 out of 7.5.

Vehicles Most Likely To Kill You (Poor Safety): 

• Datsun GO+ 1.2 Lux

• Nissan NP200

• JMC 4×2 Boarding

• Kia Picanto 1.0 Start

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In Conclusion – The State Of Entry-Level Vehicles In South Africa

One of the most noteworthy bits of information that we can take from this report is the fact that the vehicles ranked as safest and unsafest both retail at around the same price. The VW Take Up! retails at around R172 500, and the deathtrap-on-wheels JMC retails at around R176 880. 

Safety, then, really should be the most important thing that we take into account when purchasing a new vehicle. We have no excuse. 

According to the AA, the report results indicate a definite increase in safety features in vehicles, but it also highlights a crucial need for these features to be standardised across the board, instead of optional.  

Features such as anti-lock braking, electronic stability control and airbags save lives. These should not be seen as ‘nice-to-haves’ in the modern motoring world, but absolutely vital. 

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