Renault ute safe

Renault’s Alaskan ute project is on track and on time, according to Renault Australia boss, Justin Hocevar.

Reports from the recent Paris motor show threw some doubt on the company’s first local ute’s timelines and whether it would indeed, even arrive in the Australian market, but Hocevar says there are no issues with the project

“The journalists were pushing for information regarding timing, asking [Renault execs] if the program was confirmed for Australia. They were asking the wrong question,” Hocevar hinted.

According to Hocevar, final confirmation and production locations and slots have not been confirmed, but that does not put in doubt the project.

“The business cases have been completed. We’re confident that the [Navara-based] vehicle is on target,” he said.

Under Renault’s strict product lifecycle planning ‘confirmation’ is linked to hard product launch dates and the like. The Alaskan is yet to reach that part of its ‘to market’ timeline.

Alaskan’s link with the Mercedes ute project arguably meant the Renault was in the public eye a long time before would normally be the case.

“This is our first entry into this marketplace, so it was talked about very early. Normally a new car project of this calibre would not be public so early,” he said.

Hocevar said three production locations had been announced by Renault head office for the project, two in South America and one in Spain. Navara by way of comparison is also built in Thailand.

Hocevar conceded Thailand was a logical location for production of Alaskan for the Australian market but cautioned there were also advantages of sourcing the cars from other locations.

“There are some potential product-related benefits to sourcing cars from Spain for instance,” he said.

In this instance the Renault Australia exec is referencing specification differences between vehicles produced for developed versus emerging  markets. Nissan Australia has sourced high-spec LCVs/SUVs from Euro market production in the past for the same reason.

“Australia’s not a launch market for Alaskan but it is an important market,” Hocevar stated.