Renault has been aiming to enter South Africa’s half-tonne bakkie market for quite some time with its Oroch, but now those plans have been put on ice.
When we reached out to Renault about its 2024 product plans, a spokesperson told IOL that the bakkie was no longer in the planning.
“Due to unfavourable economic market factors, in particular the degradation of the exchange rate, the Oroch project is not feasible at this stage,” the spokesperson said.
Renault had been hoping to launch the compact bakkie in 2023 and even went as far as showing it off at the Nampo show. But the current model is also showing its age, being based on the first-generation Duster SUV and a replacement is currently in development in Argentina, with a Nissan twin in tow.
Would it not be great to see both of these built in Rosslyn at some point in the future?
But back to the more immediate future, Renault South Africa has a busy year nonetheless with plenty of upgrades planned for the current line-up and a few new ones under consideration.
In the second quarter of 2024 Renault will launch “MY2024” upgrades for the Indian-built Kiger and Triber. Perhaps that will include the long-awaited turbo version of the latter?
The third quarter of 2023 has a strong French accent, with the face-lifted versions of the Clio hatchback and Captur compact SUV making their local debuts.
Renault is currently exploring the viability to launch the third-generation Duster in the fourth quarter of 2024, starting with the 4x4 variant, which boasts a new Terrain Control system with five driver-selectable modes.
Revealed in Dacia form in November, the new Duster is based on the company’s CMF-B platform and boasts more cabin room, thanks to slightly larger dimensions.
Engine options in Europe include a 1.2-litre Miller Cycle mild hybrid turbopetrol with 96kW and a full hybrid that pairs with a normally aspirated 1.6 engine for a system output of 103kW. It’s not known if either of these powertrains are on the cards of South Africa.
Other possible surprises
Finally, Renault said three products were currently in the “work in progress” stage, these being the Arkana SUV as well as the updated Kangoo and Trafic panel vans.
The Arkana is a compact SUV with a coupe-like sloping roofline, think BMW X4 or X6, but at a more budget-friendly end of the market.
Whether we see it in 2024 remains to be seen, but Renault did bring out a hybrid version of this and the Captur for testing earlier this year. We drove them both during an eco challenge at Zwartkops Raceway back in October and you can read our impressions here.