{"id":634678,"date":"2026-03-21T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T08:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=634678"},"modified":"2026-03-21T11:26:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:26:29","slug":"between-r211-and-r691-more-to-fill-up-your-car-with-petrol-or-diesel-next-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/634678-between-r211-and-r691-more-to-fill-up-your-car-with-petrol-or-diesel-next-month.html","title":{"rendered":"Between R211 and R691 more to fill up your car with petrol or diesel next month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans driving large diesel-powered vehicles, including some of the country’s top-selling bakkies and SUVs, could pay up to R691 more on a tank of fuel from next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is based on the prices of products in South Africa’s petroleum basket and the dollar-to-rand exchange rate as of the April price review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF), the wholesale price of a litre of 50ppm diesel was showing an under-recovery of R8.64 for the review period up to 19 March 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increase that would be necessary as a result of that under-recovery will push the wholesale prices of 50ppm diesel to new records in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For inland stations, the cost will increase from R18.60 to R27.24, while the coastal wholesale price will jump from R17.84 to R26.48. The previous record was R25.75 in October 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In percentage terms, the wholesale price of a litre of 50ppm diesel could increase by roughly 47%. Based on current trends, that figure could be even higher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expected increase has inched upwards as the conflict in the Middle East has dragged on, increasing the price of crude oil and imported petroleum products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last week, the price of Brent crude oil has remained above $100, roughly 30% higher than before the US and Israel began their strikes on Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there is roughly another week remaining in the review period for next month’s prices, a significant de-escalation would be needed for a meaningful drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, diesel drivers should prepare for steep increases in their fuel bills. Among South Africa’s best-selling diesel vehicles are the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, and Toyota Fortuner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these vehicles have 80-litre tanks. At current estimates, it will cost retailers R691.20 more to buy the 50ppm fuel needed to fill up one of these models’ tanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the fuel needed to fill the 45-litre capacity of hatchbacks and small sedans, retailers will pay R388.80 more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petrol drivers are also facing substantial hikes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although fuel stations can be flexible with their diesel pricing, they won’t be able to implement increases much lower than the wholesale adjustment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retail margins on diesel can vary greatly from one station to the next, but are generally slim, especially in areas with a high concentration of stations and intense customer competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an inland retailer currently applies the same 15% retail margin legally prescribed for petrol, they will make roughly R2.79 on every litre of diesel they sell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if they are willing to cut that in half, they would still need to increase their pump price by more than R7 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outlook is only slightly better for petrol drivers. As of 19 March 2026, the price of a litre of unleaded 95 petrol was showing an under-recovery of R5.20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of South Africa’s most popular vehicles that relies on this fuel is the Toyota Corolla Cross. With the current increase, it will cost R244.40 more to refill its 47-litre tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owners of the more fuel-efficient hybrid model, which has 11 litres less capacity, will pay R187.20 more to fill up their tanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For unleaded 93 petrol, the under-recovery was R4.68. A motorist driving South Africa’s best-selling passenger car \u2014 the Volkswagen Polo Vivo \u2014 will pay R210.60 more to fill up their 45-litre tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will cost over R2,000 to fill up large petrol-powered SUVs and bakkies with 80-litre tanks. Even when using more affordable unleaded 93 petrol, 45 litres will cost over R1,000, as shown in the table below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel tank size<\/th>March 2026<\/th>April 2026<\/th>Change<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Unleaded 95 petrol (retail)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
45 litres<\/td>R913.50<\/td>R1,147.50<\/td>+R234<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
60 litres<\/td>R1,218<\/td>R1,530<\/td>+R312<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
80 litres<\/td>R1,624<\/td>R2,040<\/td>+R416<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Unleaded 93 petrol (retail<\/strong>)<\/td><\/tr>
45 litres<\/td>R908.55<\/td>R1,119.15<\/td>+R210.60<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
60 litres<\/td>R1,211.49<\/td>R1,492.20<\/td>+R280.80<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
80 litres<\/td>R1,615.20<\/td>R1,989.60<\/td>+R374.40<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
50ppm diesel (wholesale)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
45 litres<\/td>R837<\/td>R1,225.8<\/td>+R388.80<\/strong><\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
60 litres<\/td>R1,116<\/td>R1,634.4<\/td>+R518.40<\/strong><\/mark><\/td><\/tr>
80 litres<\/td>R1488<\/td>R2,179.2<\/td>+R691.20<\/strong><\/mark><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Based on current CEF data, the price of diesel in South Africa will increase by 47% in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":626691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366],"tags":[53131,36752,82991,45889,51719,36320,48567],"class_list":["post-634678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-central-energy-fund-cef","tag-diesel","tag-diesel-prices","tag-ford-ranger","tag-petrol-prices","tag-toyota-fortuner","tag-toyota-hilux"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634678"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":634888,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634678\/revisions\/634888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}