By: Jason Woosey
Renault is getting ready to pull the covers off its new "Sport Utility Pickup" in Buenos Aires on 18 June and just to get bakkie fans excited, the French company has released a pair of teaser shots that give most of the design game away.
Essentially a production version of the Oroch concept vehicle revealed at the Sao Paulo motor show last October, the new bakkie is based on the Duster SUV and will, initially at least, be aimed at the South American market.
Our Renault South Africa contact says it has yet to be confirmed for the local market, and that it's not in the planning for early 2016, which could mean that it's not entirely ruled out for a later stage then.
Of course, this new unibody contender, which has only been confirmed in double cab format so far, will not compete directly with any current bakkie on the market. Naturally it'll slot above compact unibodies such as the Nissan NP200 and Chevrolet Utility, but probably somewhat below the larger ladder frame "real bakkies" in the form of Hilux, Ranger, Amarok and friends.
That would certainly give the double cab Renault a unique position in the market and we can't help but imagine a single cab version of this replacing the Nissan NP200 on our market, given that the current NP200 is based on the bakkie version of the previous-generation Dacia/Renault Logan. Don't get your hopes up though as Nissan South Africa says there are no plans to replace the NP200.
Renault is remaining tight-lipped about the specifics of its Sport Utility Pickup ahead of its reveal in 9 days from now, but it almost goes without saying that it'll share its interior architecture and engine range with the Duster wagon - so expect the familiar 75kW 1.6 petrol and 80kW 1.5 turbodiesel to feature in the line-up.