LISTEN: Corolla Cross bakkie has big potential for SA market

According to new information out of Brazil it seems that a “small bakkie” is most definitely on the cards for Toyota. After much speculation, new reports indicate that a unibody bakkie built on the Corolla Cross’ TNGA-C platform is set to become a reality by 2027.

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In The Citizen Motoring‘s Pitstop podcast, Charl Bosch tells Jaco van der Merwe about the developments around the bakkie. And how it will make sense in bakkie-obsessed South Africa.

The Corolla Cross bakkie is not the “Junior” Hilux that Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) has spoken of. The “Junior” part does not refer to its size, but to a lesser specced version of the Hilux.

Leon Theron, TSAM Senior Vice-President for Sales and Marketing, last year said the “Junior” Hilux will make sense “for Africa”. This means that it will be a low-cost option. And is likely to be based on the IMV0 Concept showcased at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo in October.

ALSO READ: Official: Toyota Corolla Cross-based small bakkie going ahead

Corolla Cross bakkie gets go-ahead

The all-electric EPU Concept was, meanwhile, also on show in Tokyo. This is rumoured to have been a preview of what the “small bakkie” could look like.

Brazilian outlet AutoData reported that the rumoured Corolla Cross bakkie has been given the go-ahead. This follows the signing of an agreement between Toyota and the Metalworkers Union of Sorocaba. Sorocaba is a municipal area in the state of Sao Paulo where one of Toyota’s four Brazilian factories is based.

“There is no other place where the pickup is produced,” the union’s leader, Marcelo Silva, was quoted by the media outlet as saying.

ALSO READ: Happening no more: Three-row Toyota Corolla Cross surprisingly scrapped

This new bakkie’s market availability outside of South America remains to be seen. If it is offered as a right-hand drive, South Africa is likely to be under consideration.

The Corolla Cross is built in Prospecton and adding another vehicle – in the form of a Corolla Cross bakkie – to the assembly line certainly seems like a viable option.

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