Sao Paulo Renault to hint at 'Aussie' ute

A Dacia Duster-based mini-ute set to be unveiled in Brazil soon could provide hints to the design of the marque’s first one-tonne pick-up.

The Duster-based ute will be one of the Renault group’s stars at the Sao Paulo motor show next month.

As revealed in our Paris show coverage last week, Renault is keen to launch a full one-tonne ute across global markets including Australia. The vehicle is likely to provide a step-change in Renault’s sales volumes Down Under, says regional boss Gilles Normand.

Now, Renault’s design chief, Laurens van den Acker, has weighed in on the subject, describing the design of the vehicle as a “challenge”.

“To design a ute in the centre of Paris is a interesting challenge.

“This is not a country that understands utes and half of my designers are French,” he told motoring.com.au.

“On the other side, I spent 10 years in the USA, so happily I have an appreciation for trucks — for these small[er] trucks. They [his design team] don’t even understand this — that it’s a small truck not a big [US style] truck,” he said.

Van den Acker explained there are key differences in the target market as well as size for the Sao Paulo and ‘Aussie’ utes

“In Sao Paulo next month we will be launching a car that previews the small pick-up truck and then the mid-size one-tonne pick-up is something that is scheduled for later,” he revealed.

“The smaller ute is very much lifestyle [focused]. It competes very much against Fiat Strada and stuff like that,” van den Acker stated.

The Renault design boss all but confirmed Normand’s news that the one-tonner will be based on the Nissan Navara platform, but he would not say whether any panels would be shared.

“Nissan is obviously protective of its designs. We need to make sure if we were to do a truck it would be different from Nissan. Different enough for them to be comfortable [together],” he stated.

“I think the most important message is that Renault wants to cover more areas of the world and we want to cover more segments.

“That’s the big strategic thought also about going into pick-ups… If you don’t have it you don’t play,” he stated.