Following a pre-announcement at the beginning of the month, Renault finally made official recently all the details of the investment that will take place in Argentina to produce an unprecedented mid-range pick-up. A total of $350 million has been confirmed for the Santa Isabel plant in Cordoba, which will be the model's production base for the whole of Latin America.
The new vehicle will have a look inspired by the Niagara concept, the successor to the current Oroch, and will probably retain the concept's name in the production version. It will hit the market in 2026, with around 65,000 examples built each year. Of this volume, around 70% will be exported and the remaining 30% will remain at Argentina. Brazil, as the largest market in the region and a major consumer in the segment, will be the pick-up's main foreign destination.
Renault Niagara Concept live
As Argentina is the only country in the world to produce the car, Renault plans to invest heavily in the export sector and, in the medium term, to increase the planned production volume. Luis Pedrucci, Renault's CEO for Latin America, had this to say on the subject:
"This will be a product that, for the time being, will only be manufactured in Argentina. My aim is to export it to other continents. I'd like to achieve an annual volume of 100,000 units.
A fine line-up of competitors
As already mentioned, the new pick-up will be based on the Niagara concept already known. It will therefore inherit much of the look expected from the prototype and will be built on the RGMP platform (the same as the Kardian). The base features cutting-edge electronic architecture, a structure for hybrid units and 4x4 traction, and supports vehicles of between 4 and 5 metres in length, in addition to wheelbases of between 2.6 and 3 metres.
In the case of the pick-up, the measurements are likely to be around 4.90 metres in length and 2.95 metres in wheelbase. By way of comparison, the Fiat Toro, the main rival, measures 4.91 m and 2.99 m respectively. In addition to the Fiat pick-up, the successor to the Oroch will be competing with the Chevrolet Montana as well as the Ford Maverick and Ram Rampage.
New Renault-Nissan Pick-up ; Teaser
Nissan still in the game
Renault's partner in the same group, Nissan will also have its own version of the project, and will be entering the mid-size unibody pick-up market in the region for the first time. It should be noted that each model will have its own design, and Nissan now claims that the project is being carried out at the brand's design centre in Brazil, using artificial intelligence tools.
At the same Santa Isabel plant, Renault and Nissan are already collaborating on the joint production of Alaskan and Frontier vans. The first prototypes will go on the road in 2025.
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