Peugeot to launch new one-ton bakkie
Peugeot has admitted that it's working on a pick-up and it could even be Hilux-based.
|||It won't be long before most European carmakers offer rivals to the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.
Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Fiat have all recently announced plans to enter the one-ton market in the next few years (don't even think about it BMW!) and the latest to join the craze is PSA Peugeot Citroen.
At its “Push to Pass” growth plan conference on Tuesday, Peugeot threatened the world with a “product blitz” that will see it launching 26 new passenger cars and eight commercial vehicles between now and 2021 and it confirmed that one of these would be a one-ton pick-up.
That is as much as we have to go on for now, although speculation is rife that the new bakkie, which could be offered in both Peugeot and Citroen versions, will be based on the Toyota Hilux.
PSA would have to find a partner for this venture. Given that the company is not established in this segment and that the volumes would likely be low, at least to start with, designing a new bakkie from the ground up would simply cost too much.
A Toyota tie-up would make sense since the two companies have already collaborated on the Toyota Aygo / Peugeot 108 / Citroen C1 trio and Toyota's mid-sized vans in Europe are also PSA-based products.
Its Euro rivals will also be turning to partners with both Mercedes and Renault building their bakkies around the Nissan Navara and Fiat’s Fullback essentially being a Mitsubishi Triton in drag.
This wouldn't be the first time that Peugeot has dabbled in the bakkie market though, with pick-ups based on the 404 and 504 (pictured) having proven themselves as sturdy workhorses in the '70s, '80s and beyond.
In fact, Peugeot still offers a pick-up called the Hoggar to its South American customers, based on the 206 hatch. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we suppose.