Despite the novelty of a Renault bakkie, the modern-day Oroch stems from a linage dating back over seven decades. Image: motor1.com Brazil
When it goes on-sale before the end of this year, the Renault Oroch will officially end a market wait stretching back to 2019 when rumours of it first coming to South Africa started.
Shown to the public, albeit in “prototype” form, at the Nampo Agricultural expo in Bothaville in the Free State last month, the first generation Duster underpinned Oroch made for a sensation as many observers were unfamiliar with the concept of a Renault bakkie.
Better known for its trucks and vans from a commercial standpoint, the French automaker’s résumé of producing bakkies, while not obscure as many would think, is, admittedly, not as well known in modern times as those of its alliance partners, Nissan and Mitsubishi.
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In fact, an extensive search revealed that, including the Oroch, only five different types of bakkies featured the diamond logo after WW II, this not including examples of the Trafic and Master that started out as vans with bakkie-style loadbins.
Ahead of the Oroch’s arrival therefore, The Citizen takes a closer look at Renault’s bakkie history initiated by a model, even in classic car terms, very few have likely heard of outside France.
Showcased in 1950 as one of its first post war mass produced models, the Colorale initially debuted as a boxy-styled estate or panel van powered by a 2.4-litre petrol engine delivering 36 kW fed to the rear wheels through a three-speed manual gearbox.
Two years later though, a third variant debuted, the Colorale Pick-Up acknowledged as the first Renault bakkie of the then modern-era.
Later powered by a smaller but more powerful 2.0-litre engine developing 43 kW, the Pick-Up came as standard with rear-wheel-drive, but offered the option of four-wheel-drive, a claimed payload of 500 kg and a ground clearance of 220 mm.
Billed as a model ahead of its time, the Pick-up ended production in 1957 along with the rest of the Colorale range after reported sales of 43 000 units.
Environed as Renault’s version, and indeed direct rival to the Citroën 2CV and Volkswagen Beetle, the 4, otherwise known as the R4, still holds the distinction of being one of the marque’s best-selling models after production came to a close in 1994 after 33 years.
In fact, a survey by Britain’s Autocar in 2020 ranked it 17th behind amongst others, the Beetle, 2CV, original Land Rover, Toyota Land Cruiser and the Volkswagen Golf Mk I on the list of longest produced vehicle monikers.
Like the 2CV, a bakkie version of the 4, called the F6, ultimately became available, but only in 1978 according to milons.it as a spin-off from the much more common 4 Fourgonnette panel van that debuted in 1961.
Only select markets, prominently those in South America, received the F6 that become better known by the nickname Renoleta – a combination of Renault and the Spanish for pick-up, camioneta.
While unlikely to be viewed as the spiritual successor to the F6, the Express Pick-Up nonetheless rates as an equally interesting model based off of sister brand Dacia’s Dokker MPV.
Unveiled two years ago, the Express sports the same sheetmetal as the Dokker, but with the headlights and grille from the current generation Kangoo.
Reconfigured from the B-pillar back as a bakkie by Italian engineering firm, Focaccia Automotive Group, the Express Pick-Up has a claimed payload of 675 kg, a loadbin volume of 3.7 m3 and a choice of either a 1.5 Blue dCi turbodiesel engine or the Daimler co-developed 1.3-litre turbo-petrol, both mated to a six-speed manual gearbox.
Arguably Renault’s best known bakkie, and one many had expected would have been present in South Africa by now, the Alaskan made its world debut in 2017 as the second venture joint venture model along with the ill-fated Mercedes-Benz X-Class to be based on the current Nissan Navara.
Sold in select European and South American markets, the Alaskan continues to be produced today, but only for latter market countries following Nissan’s closure of its Barcelona Plant three years ago that made all three models at the time.
As such, the Alaskan is now made exclusively at Renault’s Santa Isabel Plant in Argentina with no plans for exports to markets with the steering gear on the right hand side.
“The bakkie market in South Africa is a tough one. We would be able to bring the Alaskan [to South Africa] in around in four months if we wanted to, but I think it is a very tough market and to enter it, we would have to be legitimate and with Alaskan.
“We would be selling 20 to 40 units a month and that would not be legitimate at all,” Renault South Africa’s then Vice-President of Marketing, Jesus Boveda, told The Citizen in 2019 when asked about the chances of the Alaskan being sold locally.
Until its most recent mid-life update last year, the Oroch had been sold as the Duster Oroch mainly in South America and also Nigeria since 2015.
Styled to resemble the original Duster, the facelift saw the Oroch not only become a model with mono name, but also the recipient of the downsized 1.3-litre turbocharged petrol in place of the normally aspirated 2.0-litre it debuted with seven years ago.
Given its focused market, a diesel engine never featured as a result of South American regulations favouring ethanol adapted petrol engines over oil-burners in lower segments.
Build at Renault’s São José dos Pinhais Plant in Brazil, the Oroch will be offered as a double cab in South Africa powered by the mentioned turbo-petrol engine, with a choice of CVT on the front-wheel-drive and a six-speed manual on the all-wheel-drive.
As per Boveda’s comments made in 2019, pricing is expected to start from R400 000 or R450 000, with a final announcement expected later this year.
Additional information from theoriginals.renault.com and autolivraria.com
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