Top 10 world’s cheapest cars
The price is a topical issue that worries everyone who wants to have a personal vehicle, especially in Israel, where prices for new cars are usually higher than the European average. Hyundai remains the traditional leader of the Israeli market, not least due to the fact that it offers relatively cheap models: in 2023, you can buy a small i10 hatchback for 78,000 shekels. Israel’s most affordable electric car is the recently launched Chinese Leapmotor T03 mini hatch with prices starting at 100,000 shekels. But the world has long learned how to make affordable cars, including electric ones, and they all come from India or China. We study the top 10 world’s cheapest cars in the world. Some of them are included in the global rating compiled by the experts of the Canadian magazine HotCars.
10th place: Maruti Suzuki Alto – 17,560 shekels
The compact hatchback, a clone of the Suzuki Alto, belongs to the kei car format. One of the most popular Indian cars has been in production since 2000 and is still on sale: the new Alto was introduced in 2022. The car offers a 5-seater passenger compartment, unpretentious design, simple finish, 2 standard airbags, ABS, rear parking sensor and 5-speed manual gearbox. A 1.0-liter gasoline engine produces 68 hp. There is a methane version.
9th place: Maruti Suzuki Eeco – 16,900 shekels
Introduced in 2010, India’s leader in commercial vans hasn’t changed much since then. It is distinguished by its capacity, wide possibilities for transforming the interior and two types of engines: gasoline and methane. In 2022, it received a new 1.3-liter engine with 82 hp, 10% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient than the previous one. The price has risen to 21,865 shekels.
8th place: Wuling Mini EV – 16,400 shekels
The unconditional bestseller of the Chinese market entered the top ten world’s most popular cars in 2021. This is a tiny, but 4-seater, electric minicar with a length of only 2.9 m that has been produced by SAIC-GM-Wuling since 2020. It comes with a 27-horsepower electric motor and two batteries to choose from: 9.2 or 13.8 kWh with a driving range of 120 or 170 km. This is an ideal city car.
7th place: Maruti Suzuki S-presso – 16,260 shekels
A raised hatchback (3.6 m long) is stylized as an SUV: plastic lining, short overhangs and a ground clearance of 18 cm, but it can be front-wheel drive only. The car is 5-seater. The entry-level version offers 2 airbags, ABS, rear parking sensors, speed warning, monochrome dashboard. The gasoline engine develops 68 hp, and there is a methane version.
6th place: Letin Mengo – 16,000 shekels
The affordable city electric car has been produced by the Chinese automaker Levdeo since 2020. The 3.6-meter 5-door electric hatchback is equipped with a single electric motor on the front axle with an output of 48 hp. The cheapest version features an 11.5 kWh battery with a driving range of 130 km (the more expensive option offers 29 kWh and 300 km).
5th place: Tata Tiago – 14,200 shekels
One of the most popular Tata Motors models was released in 2016. The entry-level version with a 1.2-liter engine with 85 hp and 5-speed manual gearbox at that time became almost the cheapest in India. Today, a mini hatchback can be bought for 25,500 shekels. In 2023, it served as the basis for the first Indian electric car Tiago.ev: a version with one 74 hp electric motor and a 19.2 kWh battery with a driving range of 255 km costs 37,365 shekels.
4th place: Lingbao Coco – 14,100 shekels
This is probably the cheapest electric car in the world. The 3.5 m electric hatchback has been produced by Jiangsu Jemmell New Energy Vehicle Industry (China) since 2021. However, the cheap car is poorly equipped, offering nothing but analog instrument gauges, a radio tape recorder with a small monochrome screen, and ABS. No airbags, no multimedia system. The driving range 120 km.
3rd place: Jiangnan Alto – 8,380 shekels
The compact 5-door hatchback is based on the Suzuki Alto of the 1980s. It was produced from 1992 to 2014 by Jiangnan with one goal in mind: to give the multi-million Chinese audience a cheap but high-quality city car. It differed from its prototype in an even simpler form and cheap finishing materials, but the price was also lower.
2nd place: Bajaj Qute – 7,290 shekels
In 2015, it was considered the cheapest car in the world, but in India itself it was used only for commerce, for example, as an auto rickshaw. Formally, this is an ATV: weight - 399 kg, length - 2.75 m, width - 1.3 m, engine with 13 hp. Minimal finishes and an almost complete lack of comfort options. But it offers 4 seats and fuel consumption of 2.8 liters per 100 km. Today, the hatchback starts at 12,400 shekels, but it has been allowed to drive on public roads since 2019.
1st place: Tata Nano - less than 7,200 shekels
The tiny hatchback was produced in India from 2008 to 2018 in two generations under the motto ‘we simplify everything that can be simplified’. At the start of sales, it cost a little less than 7,200 shekels. As a result, the car turned out to be so primitive that it failed to live up to the manufacturer’s hopes of making it a mass people’s car. Not every cheap product becomes popular.
In 1925, the most affordable Ford T version cost 260 dollars (this is about 11,590 shekels considering the inflation).
