The company dominating hybrid car sales in South Africa

Toyota is driving hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) sales with its Corolla Cross hybrid, which comprised 74% of all full hybrid cars sold in South Africa in 2024.

The country has seen significant growth in hybrid sales over the past few years, with over 13,000 units sold in 2024, a more than 5,000% increase compared to 2015.

However, hybrid sales remained rather stagnant from 2015 until 2020, when 266 and 155 were sold, respectively.

HEV sales suddenly jumped to 627 in 2021, when the Corolla Cross hybrid was launched in South Africa, followed by 4,050 in 2022, and 6,495 in 2023.

The following year, sales more than doubled, with 13,604 HEVs sold. Of these, 10,109 were Corolla Cross sales.

The second highest number of HEVs sold by model was the Toyota RAV at 761. This was followed by the Haval H6 at 741 and Haval Jolion at 630.

Toyota also has several other vehicles in the top 20 HEV rankings for 2024, including the Corolla, Corolla HB, and the Crown.

The company noted that it commanded 67% of South Africa’s new energy vehicle sales in 2024. However, because Toyota sold no battery electric vehicles (BEV) in South Africa last year, this was entirely due to its HEV sales.

It also noted that it sold 22,000 Corolla Cross units last year, including the internal combustion engine (ICE) models, proving its success across markets.

This is also true for the used-HEV market, where the Toyota Corolla Cross was once again the undisputed champion, selling 950 units throughout the year.

The average price of these vehicles was found to be R439,289, with an average of 18,016km on the clock.

While this was followed by the Haval H6, the Corolla and RAV4 hybrids came in third and fourth place.

Currently, three Corolla Cross HEV models are available on the South African market, all for under R600,000.

The most affordable model is the 1.8XS HEV, which costs R494,400 and comes equipped with a 10” Display, wireless CarPlay, leather seats, and a 7” combination meter.

The 1.8XR and 1.8GR-S HEVs, valued at R545,200 and R561,700, respectively, have similar features, such as a 12.3” full digital meter, a 360° panoramic view monitor, and Toyota Safety Sense.

Corolla Cross fuel consumption: HEV vs ICE

A member of the MyBroadband team recently drove their Corolla Cross 1.8XS from Fourways to the Drakensberg and averaged 5.1ℓ/100km on the trip there and back.

At April 2025’s inland unleaded 95 price of R21.62 per litre, the roughly 850km journey cost just R935 in fuel, while a comparable non-hybrid vehicle would have likely cost closer to R1,300.

Toyota claims an average fuel consumption figure of 4.3ℓ/100km for the Corolla Cross with its hybrid powertrain. However, reaching that low figure was found to be challenging.

The Japanese car manufacturer also said that the non-hybrid variation of the Toyota Corolla Cross averages 6.8ℓ/100km.

However, real-world testing by Cars.co.za revealed that the figure is more likely to be between 7.0ℓ/100km and 8.0ℓ/100km.

At 7.0ℓ/100km, the same journey would have cost approximately R1,283 in fuel, while the petrol cost would have been closer to R1,500 with a fuel consumption of 8.0ℓ/100km.

However, as the naturally aspirated 1.8 Toyota Corolla Cross’s fuel consumption isn’t as impacted at highway speeds, it is more likely that its fuel consumption for the journey would have been closer to the lower figure of 7.0ℓ/100km.