Is this the best new bakkie of 2020?

Renault’s Duster has a built great reputation. It can rightfully claim to have transformed the French brand’s image and standing amongst South African buyers, especially those who do a lot of gravel travel.

Imagine if Renault could leverage that positive brand association with the strong local demand for bakkies? The latest Duster product development is a move exactly in that direction.

Renault’s Romanian subsidiary, Dacia, has now revealed a bakkie version of its Duster, which not only looks great, but has some real off-road ability too.

How does this Duster single-cab compare to the SUV in terms of size? Measured bumper-to-bumper it is 19mm shorter, which should make parking even easier.

The new Duster bakkie’s load box is 1.65m long and has a loading capacity of 1000-litres, with a payload rating of 500kg. In the market for traditional half-ton bakkies, which is now virtually serviced by a single model, Nissan’s NP200, the Duster’s utility specification is absolutely on point.

The Duster bakkie would provide strong competition for Nissan's NP200 (if it was offered in SA).

All-terrain ability promises to be excellent, with the single-cab using Duster’s clutch-pack actuated all-wheel drive system and six-speed manual gearbox.

Ground clearance also increased, by 14mm, to give the Duster bakkie an impressive 224mm of underbody obstacle clearance, which is hugely impressive for a vehicle that has a comparatively short wheelbase.

Completing the simply outstanding compact single-cab 4×4 bakkie specification is a 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine. The DCi powertrain will be familiar to South African Duster customers, boosting 85kW and 260Nm. Diesel consumption is excellent too, at only 4.7l/100km.

Those outputs should not only give it very responsive overtaking acceleration, but could make the lightweight Duster single-cab a very capable sand driving bakkie, with some high-volume tyres running at appropriately low pressures.

Priced at a premium of 20% above the equivalent Duster five-door SUV, the single-cab 1.5 DCi 4×4 qualifies as something of a compact lifestyle bakkie.

Despite its hefty price increase over other Dusters, there is no arguing against the bakkie version’s specification and neatly executed design. These Dusters were developed by ajoint venture between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Romanian engineering consultancy, Romturingia.

Would you like to see the Duster bakkie in South Africa?

Buy a Renault Duster on Cars.co.za

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