While South African bakkie-lovers continue to plead for the local introduction of the Volkswagen Saveiro, rumours have emerged that the South American arm of the German brand is working on a third pickup to slot between the Saveiro and Amarok.
As long ago as February 2016, Volkswagen in Brazil announced that its fresh “MQB zero” platform would spawn a small SUV, a compact vehicle and a “small pickup”.
The new compact vehicle turned out to be the Polo and Polo Virtus (or Polo Sedan, as we know the latter here in SA), while we already know that the as-yet-unnamed new small SUV will be built exclusively for the South American market.
Logic would suggest that the small pickup referred to in that 2016 press release would be a revamped Saveiro, but fresh rumours suggest that a third bakkie – running on the localised MQB architecture – may also be on the cards.
Indeed, in VW’s global presser about its latest investment in South America, it promises that a “totally revamped pickup range” will launch “by 2020”. The key word there, of course, is “range”.
The Brazilian media suggests that the third bakkie will be similar in size to the Renault Duster Oroch (itself very popular in Latin America) and a little smaller than the Fiat Toro, so as not to step on the toes of the Amarok.
We’ll be sure to keep a close eye on the Brazilian media over the coming weeks and months in an attempt to ascertain whether these rumours are indeed true…
