Renault Australia wants Duster Oroch ute

Renault Australia has confirmed it is working on a plan to import a cheeky little dual-cab ‘lifestyle’ ute from South America, called the Duster Oroch.

If it’s successful, the pint-size pick-up – based on Renault/Dacia’s compact Duster SUV -- could be on sale in Australia by the end of next year.

Renault Australia managing director Andrew Moore said the Duster Oroch would be positioned at the bottom end of the brand’s proposed pick-up portfolio, with the Nissan NP300 Navara-based Alaskan ute sitting at the top.

“Renault Australia has proposed a new pick-up strategy which includes a request for right-hand drive Renault Oroch development,” he said.

“This is a vehicle currently produced in South America in left-hand drive, however, we are requesting Renault to look at expanding the Oroch to other right-hand drive markets.

“Our discussions to date have been positive and we are gaining support from the global LCV division.

“There are still a number of things to follow through on as development would be specific for our market. The very best case scenario would be seeing this vehicle [in Australia] by the end of 2019.”

Moore said Renault Australia believes there is local market demand for an entry-level dual-cab ute, which could be priced in line with the cheapest Chinese pick-ups from under $25,000.

A bit like the Hyundai Tucson-based Santa Cruz ute sold in North America but ruled out for Australia, the Oroch could be a kind of spiritual successor for cute utes of the past like the Suzuki Mighty Boy and Subaru Brumby, but with four doors and five seats.

“There is not much in the market to position it against but our intention would be that it would be competitively priced at the lower end of the pick-up market,” said Moore.

Quizzed whether the Renault-badged, right-hand drive Oroch would achieve the requisite five-star ANCAP safety rating, Moore said:

“It’s difficult to answer this question at this stage as we are uncertain when the vehicle will arrive. As a rule Renault don’t speculate of a crash test score.”

Joining the popular Duster SUV on sale in Europe and South America in 2015, the Oroch ute measures 4.7 metres long, has a 650kg payload, multi-link rear suspension and sturdy body additions.

It’s powered by a 106kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine matched to manual and automatic transmissions driving only the front wheels, and is claimed to hit 100km/h in 10.3 seconds.

Despite Renault Australia’s enthusiasm, at this stage the Oroch appears to be a long-shot for our market, for which the big Alaskan pick-up is also yet to be approved.

“It’s not yet signed off but we are gaining support from the global LCV division,” said Moore.

“Like the Oroch discussions, we have been making progress in the past few months with the global LCV division although there are still a number of outstanding elements before this could be confirmed.’

Moore said the Alaskan – a lightly modified version of the Navara dual-cab -- would be available here in a small number of well-equipped variants positioned to compete with Australia’s most expensive dual-cab 4x4 utes, like the Ford Ranger Wildtrak and the Alaskan’s sister model, the Mercedes-Benz X-Class.

“The number of variants and price are not yet defined but it’s fair to say that we wouldn’t be looking to have a huge number of variants and cover the full pick-up range,” he said.

“The strategy that we have proposed is lifestyle-based and would focus on having highly-specified, desirable and attractive variants.

“As part of the new pick-up strategy proposed by Renault Australia, Alaskan would sit at the top-end of the ute market.”