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Mercedes-Benz GLC 200 in SA: price and specs

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Serving as the new entry point to the local GLC SUV lineup, Mercedes-Benz South Africa has announced official pricing for the GLC 200 SUV. See pricing below. Image: Mercedes-Benz In January 2026, Mercedes-Benz announced the addition of the GLC 200 to its existing local GLC SUV lineup. Now, the German marque’s South African arm has confirmed pricing for the new petrol-powered derivative. Serving as the new entry point to the firm’s GLC SUV portfolio, with the GLC 200 4Matic, the company aims to broaden the appeal of its already popular premium midsize SUV. The GLC 200 4Matic is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine incorporating 48 V mild-hybrid tech. The four-cylinder petrol unit develops 150 kW and 320 N.m of torque, delivered to the road via the automaker’s 4Matic all-wheel drivetrain – the latter coupled with a 9G-tronic nine-speed automatic transmission. The mild-hybrid system, which features an integrated starter generator (ISG), provides temporary boosts of 17 kW and ...
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New VW Caravelle: SA launch date confirmed

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Volkswagen Group Africa has announced the official local launch date of the new Caravelle. Image: Volkswagen At Volkswagen Group Africa’s 2026 Indaba, the German marque’s Commercial Vehicles arm announced the new Caravelle is en route to South Africa. The T7 generation employs a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain comprising a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbopetrol engine and two permanently excited synchronous electric motors – the latter sited on the front and rear axles, respectively. The PHEV setup produces a combined system output of 180 kW and 350 N.m of torque, transferred to the road via all four corners. The internal combustion engine (ICE) component of the PHEV arrangement is coupled with a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox, with a single-speed transmission delivering power to the rear axle, which is automatically engaged or decoupled depending on speed and the selected driving mode to optimise efficiency. VW claims the T7 Caravelle returns between 7.5 and 8.1 L/100 km. The new-...
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Top 5 best-selling Chinese passenger cars in SA – January 2026

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We have rounded up the five best-selling Chinese passenger cars in South Africa in January 2026. See the list below. In January 2026, naamsa reported 50 073 new vehicles were sold in South Africa – 42 753 units, or 85.4%, representing dealer sales; 10.9%, rental industry sales; 1.6%, government sales; and 2.1%, corporate fleet sales. Now, we’ve already rounded up the top five best-selling Chinese car brands in SA , but which passenger cars from the latter market sold the most in our country in the first month of the new year? We take a closer look. 5. Jetour T1 – 431 units T1. Image: Jetour In January 2026, 431 new Jetour T1s were sold in SA. The more urban-oriented T model in Jetour’s local lineup, which also also includes the adventure-focused T2, the T1 is priced from R514 900 for the 1.5T derivative to R659 900 for the 2.0T Odyssey Dark Night model. 4. Jetour T2 – 665 units Image: Jetour Launched alongside the T1, the rugged-looking T2 continues to underpin Jetour’s loc...
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VW Polo Vivo Xpress panel van in SA: price and specs

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Volkswagen South Africa has announced its re-entry into the local light duty vehicle segment, with the German marque’s SA arm introducing the Polo Vivo Xpress panel van to our market. See pricing below. Image: Volkswagen Announced at Volkswagen Group Africa’s 2026 Indaba, the German automaker’s local arm has re-entered the South African light duty vehicle (LDV) segment with the introduction of the Polo Vivo Xpress panel van. According to the firm, this comes as a response to the “noticeable” growth in the local entry-level delivery-vehicle segment over the past few years. The Polo Vivo Xpress offers a payload capacity of 490 kg. VW Polo Vivo Xpress Price in SA The Polo Vivo Xpress panel van is priced from R279 990 , making it R8 090 more expensive than its base-spec (55 kW/130 N.m) 1.4-litre passenger sibling and R14 130 less expensive than the 1.4-litre Polo Vivo Life derivative. Included in the price is a three-year/120 000 km warranty. A service/maintenance plan is available ...
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Omoda C5 SHS hybrid: SA launch date confirmed

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The C5 SHS is en route to South Africa, with Omoda’s local arm announcing when the hybrid model will launch on our shores. Image: Omoda Omoda & Jaecoo has confirmed the local arrival of the C5 SHS (Super Hybrid System), a hybrid variant of the best-selling model in this Chery sub-brand’s local model portfolio. Following the updated C5 lineup, with the C5 SHS, the Chinese automaker aims to broaden the appeal of its popular compact SUV, which featured in our 2025 SUV Shootout . The petrol-electric C5’s powertrain comprises a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engine and a single electric motor – the latter fed by a 1.83 kWh battery. The hybrid arrangement produces a combined system output of 165 kW and 310 N.m of torque, delivered to the front wheels via a dedicated hybrid transmission (DHT). The firm claims an average fuel consumption of 5.3 L/100 km, with a combined driving range of 1 000 km. The C5 SHS completes the 0-100 km/h sprint in a claimed 7.9 seconds. Omoda C5 ...
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10 most powerful hatchbacks in SA in 2026

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We have rounded up the 10 most powerful hatchbacks available in South Africa in 2026. See the full list below… 9. Volkswagen Mk8.5 Golf GTI – 195 kW Image: Peet Mocke Kicking off the list is Volkswagen’s Mk8.5 Golf GTI, which we sampled for an exclusive first local drive in 2025. The updated eighth-generation Golf GTI features subtle cosmetic enhancements, including new alloy wheels. Though, the most noteworthy change to the package is its increased power output – up 15 kW over its predecessor. The Mk8.5’s uprated EA888 powertrain produces 195 kW. Twisting force has remained untouched, with the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-pot delivering 370 N.m to the front axle via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DSG). VW claims the Mk8.5 Golf GTI completes the 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.9 seconds. 8=. Toyota GR Yaris 1.6T GR-Four Rally – 210 kW Image: Toyota In addition to exterior and interior revisions, for the updated GR Yaris, which we sampled at the local launch in 2025, Toyota i...
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VW South Africa ‘confident’ Mk8.5 Golf R will come to SA

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VW Group Africa has said it is ‘confident’ the Mk8.5 Golf R will come to SA. Image: Volkswagen In September 2025, Volkswagen Group Africa confirmed to CAR magazine that the Mk8.5 Golf R is ‘being planned’ for SA . See, as we reported, with the Mk8.5 Golf GTI, which we’ve sampled on local shores, having been approved for our market, there is no longer a technical issue to bring the pinnacle Golf model to SA. As CAR Editor Ian McLaren noted in his review of the Mk8.5 Golf R , “The behind-the-scenes work and (emissions-related) testing undertaken by the Kariega-based firm to get the GTI approved for this market have meant cars like the R and its forthcoming Audi S3 cousin are now available to their respective South African offices.” Now, at VW Group Africa’s 2026 Indaba, the German marque’s local arm has said it is “confident” the updated (more powerful) eighth-generation Golf R will, indeed, come to SA. However, while the updated Audi S3 has already launched in our mark...
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