It’s official: Renault finally confirms new half-tonne bakkie
Renault has announced a fresh investment in its Córdoba plant in Argentina, finally confirming it will produce a new half-tonne bakkie based on the Niagara concept…
It’s finally official: Renault has announced a fresh investment in its Santa Isabel, Córdoba factory in Argentina, confirming that it will indeed produce a new half-tonne bakkie based on the Niagara concept.
Expected to replace the long-in-the-tooth Duster-based Oroch that didn’t ever make it to South Africa, the upcoming bakkie will likewise employ a unibody rather than ladder-frame configuration, riding on a new Renault Group modular platform. It’s expected to hit the market in Latin America in 2026.
According to translated press material released in the Latin American country, the Boulogne-Billancourt-based firm says its new half-tonne pick-up “will initially be manufactured only in Argentina and will have a strong export profile”.
Renault has yet to announce whether the new bakkie will also be built in right-hand-drive form (remember, countries in that part of the world use left-hand-drive models). However, as Cars.co.za reported in May 2024, the French automaker has already applied to trademark the “Niagara” badge in South Africa, so there’s at least some hope for an eventual local introduction.
This investment announcement also includes confirmation from Renault that the design of the new half-tonne bakkie “will be based on the Niagara concept”. For the record, that show vehicle featured a double-cab body style.
“On the road to 70 years of our beloved Santa Isabel factory, the launch of this half-tonne pick-up truck manufactured exclusively in Argentina marks a new chapter in our rich industrial history in our country,” said Pablo Sibilla, President and CEO of Renault Argentina.
“With an export profile that will reach between 65% and 70% of production, we reaffirm the capacity and talent of the Argentine industry, consolidating it as a strategic pillar in our global operation,” Sibilla said. Luiz Pedrucci, CEO of Renault Latin America, separately told Motor1.com that “my goal is to export it to other continents”, adding that he “would like to reach an annual volume of 100 000 units”.
As we’ve previously reported, a Nissan-badged version of the Niagara production model – courtesy of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance – is also very much on the cards. This model could, in theory at least, replace the NP200 half-tonner that went out of production at Rosslyn in March 2024.
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