The five cheapest sedans you can buy new
How long will it be before there aren’t any sub-$30K four-doors left? We’re down to two...Sedans were once the staple vehicle of Australian motoring; we couldn’t get enough of them and there was a rich abundance of models ranging from tiny econoboxes through to fire-breathing four-door missiles.
Thankfully one of those extremities is alive and kicking almost as strongly as ever, but there’s been a noticeable decline in the availability of small and genuinely affordable sedans over the past 10 to 15 years.
Following the axing of the $24,888 (drive away) MG MG5 Vibe this week, there are no new four-door passenger cars left on the Australian market priced below $25,000, and only two that start below $30,000.
Sedans will always have a place in the market to some extent, but the number of genuinely affordable options is slowly dwindling, and so here are the five cheapest four-doors you can buy new as of June 2025...
1. Mazda2 – from $28,190 plus on-road costs
Yes, we know the 2025 Mazda2 actually starts from $26,990 plus on-road costs but that’s for the hatch-only G15 Evolve – if you want a sedan, you have to look at the higher-spec G15 GT.
Quite literally the last of its kind, the Mazda2 sedan once traded blows with the Ford Fiesta, Honda City and Toyota Yaris in the light sedan segment, but is now in a class of one since the MG MG3, Suzuki Swift and Yaris are all now hatch-only.
2. Hyundai i30 – from $29,000 plus on-road costs
A segment above but a whole lot bigger than the Mazda is the 2025 Hyundai i30 sedan, the base 2.0-litre version of which starts from an even $29,000 plus on-road costs.
Unlike the Mazda or the MG MG5 (see below), the base i30 doesn’t offer multitudes of equipment or cosset its occupants in creature comforts; it comes with little more than the essentials and gets on with the job of daily transport.
3. MG MG5 – from $32,990 drive away
Until very recently the only sub-$25,000 option for prospective new sedan buyers, the 2025 MG MG5 has just been given a major safety upgrade and with it, lost the budget-saving Vibe variant.
That’s not to say the remaining Essence isn’t good value – it is – but its price has risen $3000 to $32,990 drive away on account of its new safety gismos that netted a three-star ANCAP safety rating and have thereby driven it out of the sub-$30,000 price bracket.
It should be noted the MG5 is the only model on the list with full-time drive-away pricing, which is why it sits above the Kia K4 and Mazda3 on our list.
4. Kia K4 – from $30,590 plus on-road costs
Sharing a large amount of its DNA with the Hyundai and following the same ethos but looking very different is the latest 2025 Kia K4 S, which can be had from $30,590 plus on-road costs.
The K4 picks up where the old Cerato left off in being Kia’s volume-selling small car, but its predecessor started at less than $28K before on-roads. That’s made the new model a tough pill to swallow for some, even though it sits on a more modern platform.
5. Mazda3 – from $31,310 plus on-road costs
Unlike its smaller stablemate, the 2025 Mazda3 sedan is available across all the same trim levels as the hatch and for exactly the same money.
The range opens from $31,310 plus on-roads for the G20 Pure which, like its Korean rivals, isn’t exactly dripping with gear, but did at least gain connected services and a heap of USB-C ports for the 2025 model year.
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