According to caradvice.com.au, the French automaker’s Aussie division has been lobbying to bring the pick-up version of the popular Dacia/Renault Duster compact SUV Down Under, stating that it has “proposed a new pick-up strategy for the Australian market which includes the Alaskan and a request for the right-hand drive Renault Oroch development”.
Despite claiming to have “garnered support from the global LCV division”, the automaker remarked in a statement that several factors are hindering RHD Oroch production, the biggest of which being tougher safety standards relative to those in South America.
“We’ve requested a high level of safety features for the Oroch relative to the marketplace. We asked it directly if a five-star ANCAP score was a prerequisite. It’s difficult to answer this question at this stage as we are uncertain when the vehicle will arrive. As a rule Renault (does not) speculate of a crash test score,” it said.
“We believe there is strong demand for a lifestyle based dual cab pick-up beyond just the big ladder-frame products available on the market today. We believe there’s market demand and we’d be keen to see it here by the end of 2019”.
On sale since 2015, and one of the models whose local introduction has remained a topic of constant speculation, the Duster Oroch serves a rival to the segment dominating Fiat Strada and Toro, as well as the Chevrolet Montana (the erstwhile Opel/Chevrolet Corsa Utility and later Chevrolet Utility) and Volkswagen Saveiro, and can be powered by two flex-fuel petrol engines; a 1.6 making 81 kW when running on petrol or 85 kW when powered by ethanol, and a 2.0-litre with respective outputs of 106 kW and 109 kW.
A five-speed manual gearbox is standard on the former with a six-speed manual or four-speed automatic available on the latter. Drive either goes the front or all four wheels with prices in Brazil ranging from R$ 69 990 (R236 583) for the entry-level Express, to R$ 79 490 (R268 695) for the flagship Dynamique.
