Johannesburg - South African motorists are in for some serious savings at the pumps from Wednesday, December 5, with the price of petrol set to drop by R1.84 and diesel by between R1.45 and R1.47.
But exactly how much will you be saving on a tank?
We did the sums on 15 popular vehicle ranges currently on sale in South Africa (see tables below) and the amounts are quite significant.
While those driving a smaller car such as the Volkswagen Polo will pay around R65 less per tank, those in bakkies and SUVs such as the Toyota Hilux and Fortuner are in for a saving in the region of R110.
Because it’s safe to assume that you’re not going to arrive at the forecourt with a completely dry tank, we docked five litres off the tank capacity of each vehicle that’s featured. Thus if the Polo has a 40 litre tank capacity, our calculation was based on 35 litres.
It’s also worth noting that the diesel prices are an estimation. The Department of Energy only lists wholesale prices for diesel and it can vary by more than R1 a litre at the forecourts, so we came up with an average based on prices we’ve seen at petrol stations - R16.13 inland and R15.64 at the coast. But as always, it pays to shop around for your diesel.
Petrol will cost you between R15.01 (93 Unleaded) and R15.24 (95 Unleaded) in Gauteng from December 5, while the latter will retail for R14.65 at the coast.
*Estimated refuel quantity = maximum tank capacity minus five litres
As previously reported, December’s fuel price cuts are mainly due to significantly lower international oil prices, which have dropped by over 25 percent since hitting a four-year high of $86 in October.
The rand has also been fairly kind to us, trading stronger throughout November.