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Peugeot bakkie short on breath – 2022 Motoring Newsmaker No 3
Landtrek's acceleration not on par with its rivals in South Africa's cutthroat bakkie segment.
Peugeot re-entered the local bakkie game in 2021 with the Landtrek.
The South African motoring industry in 2022 proved once again that Mzansi is undoubtedly bakkie country.
While there were lots of activity in the SUV, hatchback and sedan segments, it was the bakkies that got the most attention.
Bakkie news spanned from Peugeot’s re-entry into the segment by virtue of the Landtrek, the first Jeep bakkie in the form of the Gladiator and the hottest production Toyota Hilux yet to the all-new Isuzu D-Max, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok.
In fact, five of the 10 most popular motoring topics on The Citizen’s website this year were bakkies. Over the last 10 days of December, The Citizen Motoring looks back at these five along with the rest of the top 10 Motoring Newsmakers of 2022.
Peugeot bakkie returns
Although the Peugeot bakkie was rolled out in 2021, it still ranks as the motoring story that attracted the third most online interest in 2022.
The Landtrek is Peugeot’s first local foray into the bakkie segment since the legendary 404 in the 1970s. It was jointly designed by Peugeot and Chinese carmaker Changan Automobile and shares a platform with the Kaicene F70 sold in other markets.
But the decision by Stellantis, Peugeot’s parent company, to only bring one powertrain to South Africa might have hampered the bakkie’s return.
While the Landtrek is sold with a 2.5-litre turbodiesel on other markets, Mzansi only got the 110kW/350Nm 1.9-litre turbodiesel derivative.
Running out of puff
As is customary, Road Test Editor Mark Jones put the Peugeot bakkie through its paces at Gerotek and the results was anything but flattering.
The Peugeot Landtrek bakkie turned out to be the slowest we have tested. While the ride quality styling and specification levels are quite decent, the acceleration is just not up to scratch in Mzansi’s dog-eat-dog bakkie segment.
The rest of our 2022 Motoring Newsmakers are:
No 10 – New Range Rover rolls in
No 8 – Kona N the new Golf GTI killer
No 7 – Isuzu outguns Hilux and Ranger
No 6 – Sehol SUV the butt of all jokes
