There’s still hope for South Africans holding out for a fresh half-tonne bakkie option, with Renault SA telling us the Duster Oroch is “in the planning for 2022”.
While the French firm’s local arm has been threatening to introduce the Duster-based bakkie for some time now – in 2018 even indicating it was targeting a 2020 launch – it has effectively been hamstrung by the lack of global demand for right-hand-drive production.
Still, the vehicle’s not quite off the table. While Renault SA wouldn’t be drawn on specifics, we suspect it’s the as-yet-unrevealed second-generation Oroch (based on the latest Duster) the company hopes to bring to local shores next year.
Although Dacia in Romania revealed a single-cab pick-up (with a payload of 500 kg) based on the latest Duster late in 2020, it’s not yet clear whether the (surely inevitable?) Renault version will follow suit or retain the double-cab configuration of the original.
Regardless of body style, local buyers starved of half-tonne bakkie options would surely welcome a newcomer to the segment, with the Nissan NP200 having had the market all to itself for some years now (and the Volkswagen Saveiro still seemingly not on the cards for SA).