The Dutch Renault importer decided that the Renault Alaskan pickup, introduced in 2017, is even too much of a niche. Consequently, you won’t find them on the showroom floor of our Renault dealerships. The Alaskan is fully based on the current generation of the Nissan NP300 Navara, just like the Mercedes-Benz X-Class.
This one has Belgian license plates, the other came from Germany. Some of the Alaskan’s direct competitors are the Ford Ranger, Volkswagen Amarok and Toyota HiLux.
The power unit is always a 2.3 liter, inline-4 diesel engine, either a single turbo with 160 or a twin turbo with 190 DIN-hp (both @ 3,750 rpm). Maximum torque output 403 Nm (297 lb-ft) for the 160 hp version, 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) if you opt for the most powerful engine (both from 1,500 to 2,500 rpm).
A 6-speed manual transmission is standard, a 7-speed automatic is optional on the dCi 190. Right, as in 190 hp.
The payload capacity is just over 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs), so a genuine one-metric-ton truck, while the towing capacity is rated at 3,500 kg (7,716 lbs).
According to the Belgian Alaskan brochure, how confusing, a double crew cab is the one and only option.
Just put the Renault logo on the steering wheel and call it a day.
All crew members should fasten their seatbelts.
In case you’re wondering what the best selling new pickup in the Netherlands is, it’s the Ram 1500. (Photo courtesy of Damstra USA Cars & Trucks)
Not one modern-era US pickup, regardless the manufacturer, has ever been officially imported. Multiple independent and experienced specialists throughout the country get the show on the road with Dutch plates on the bumpers.
Taking driving lessons in Amsterdam with a Ram crew cab, towing a tandem axle trailer. Sure, why not? (Photo courtesy of Rijschool Amsterdam)
From January to August 2018, 397 Rams were sold here, all registered as commercial vehicles. A niche market indeed, with our without Renault.
I’ve heard about the Mercedes version for a while now, but this Renault is new to me, though not surprising. But as someone with childhood memories of Dauphines and Fintails, a lifetime fascination with Unimogs, and teenage memories of Datsun Li’l Hustler pickups, the fact that there are Renault and Mercedes branded Nissan pickups is just weird. Though perhaps not as weird as learning that the full-size Ram pickup outsells all other pickups in The Netherlands.
The Mercedes X-Class, sometimes I nicknamed it the “Mercedes Cimmaron” who reminded me of the Cadillac Cimmaron who was a Cavalier with a Caillac front end. And by checking that photo, it almost like if history repeat itself again. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2018_Mercedes-Benz_X250_Power_D_4MATIC_Automatic_2.3_Front.jpg
The whole Jan.-Aug. 2018 sales chart is at the bottom of this article:
https://www.autoweek.nl/autonieuws/artikel/doge-ram-populairste-pick-up-van-nederland/
397!
Wow, the Dutch are operating way above the Brits in the “we have no use for pickups” league.
If Jason Shafer were to live there it would be like some kind of minimum security prison for him.
Oh please. You haven’t figured me out yet. 😁
Ditto here in Germany, too. Ram trucks are much more common sight here than ones from Chevrolet, Ford, or GMC.
That makes me wonder if it is because the Ram is generally more liked, or is it due to FCA ties? Ford certainly sells in Europe, just not many of the American models, and GM has not fully pulled out, so why Ram?
No FCA connection whatsoever, I’m very sure of that. It dates back to the 1994 gen, shortly after they started to appear on our roads regularly.
You can’t walk into an FCA dealership (or the Jeep-Dodge-Chrysler dealers of yore in the Daimler days) if you’re interested in a Dodge/Ram truck. Ditto for Ford and GM, that has never been the case.
Agreed though that It would be interesting to know why the Rams are preferred to their GM and Ford competitors throughout Europe.
I’m sure that all of us here at CC have those “if only” memories, usually involving a car sold or not bought. When we took a family vacation in England in 2003, I regret not buying a postcard I saw in the gift shop of a “stately home” in the Midlands (Chatsworth), featuring … wait for it … Pickup Trucks of Rural England. Little thumbnails of a Ford Ranger, HiLux, Land Rover, etc. If only I had bought one, it would be evidence that the British do worship their pickups, just like us. And by the way, even in 2003 I saw a few Ram trucks there.
Yes dman, pickups are relatively common in the countryside, used by farmers, sheepshearers etc. The little Subaru used to be quite popular with sheep farmers but rusted incredibly quickly.
In the days when Britain had a motor industry there were a surprising number of small pickups, but they were hugely outsold by the van versions.
The Ranger is the UK bestseller now (4200 per annum) but a big chunk of them will be driven by posers, encouraged by company car tax laws – as in the Netherlands, they are often driven by the self employed. Most people who actually have a use for a truck will use a Transit, either a panel van or a dropside.
Postman Pat
To an American who lived in England as a young child briefly in the ‘60’s, when Postman Pat probably walked, rode a bicycle or at best drove a Thames van, this is great. Thanks for posting!
These Rams and other US pickups are mostly driven by what we call ZZP-ers, a Zelfstandige Zonder Personeel…a one man operation/profession (as a business) without employees. An LPG-system to keep fuel costs acceptable and off you go, with or without a heavy trailer.
If you have the choice, you might as well go all the way, instead of rolling in a plain Jane VW, Toyota or Isuzu. I mean, these are used to pick up roadkill alongside the freeways…
Although I have no figures, my gut feeling is that sales of pick ups are growing in Austria – I seem to encounter more and more of them (mostly the compact variety although you do see late model full-size American pick ups as well and yes, Rams are the most popular, followed by Ford’s products and distantly followed by GM’s).
AGT Europe is the official (by FCA) dealer of RAM/Dodge in Europe, including Nederlands…
Thanks for the info. I went to their website (HQ is in Switzerland) and I found only one Dutch dealership.
It’s interesting that they aren’t sold through (self) selected Fiat dealers.
The take rate on US pickups in Europe is tiny – and apparently the take rate on any kind of pickup in the Netherlands is miniscule.
I might be mistaken, but I suspect a manufacturer importing vehicles has much more onerous standards to meet re type approval vs someone personally importing a vehicle. This is from a UK perspective, the Netherlands may be different.
Fiat does sell the Fullback (a rebadged Mitsubishi L200) at least in the UK anyway.
…”and apparently the take rate on any kind of pickup in the Netherlands is miniscule”…
Panel vans first (van conversions of Land Cruisers and such included), then single/double cab flatbeds with dropsides. After them…*crickets chirp for a long time*…a handful of pickups.
Because nothing says “Alaska” in Holland like a French pickup truck that is actually a rebadged Japanese pickup truck. Maybe Sinterklass could use a diesel one, driven by Black Peter, who definitely seems like a Pickup Truck Redneck kind of guy.
Yes, I found the Alaska’s name curious too.
It just follows a trend set by Denali, Tacoma, Colorado etc. Not very original.
Renault in the early 1950s did offer a pick-up truck, destined mainly for French overseas territories known as Colorale with a family version called Prairie. There’s a good article in French with some photos about the Colorale and Prairie.
http://boitierrouge.com/2016/09/21/renault-colorale-crossover-des-fifties/
and CC mentionned the Colorale at https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/car-show-classics-2016-renaultoloog-festival-part-two-the-vans-rvs-trucks-and-farm-tractors/
The Colorale design seems to be influenced by Chevrolet “Advance Design” gen (1947-55).
… and don’t forget the bigger COE R4000 series. So a Renault 4X4 pick up is not as weird as it seems at first sight. Pic from chrispit1955’s Flickr page.
Ram pickups come here officially new ready to go prices start at $79,000 or two Ford Rangers which are the best selling vehicle currently, Nissan Navara utes are on sale here badged Mercedes, havent seen any Renault badges on them yet, Fotons, Mahindras, Toyotas. Great Walls, Holden Colorados Isuzus, utes of pretty much any flavour you like is on the road here, plus all the used US utes that get imported.
I can’t see this one coming to Australia either, as Renault is very much an unknown brand nowadays unless you read the car magazines. Might see a new one once or twice a year.
Renault sold 1,088,346 new cars (so without their wide range of light commercial vehicles) in the EU last year…say, that’s quite the contrast with Australia then. Let alone with North America.
If it is easy to import new American market Ram pickups to mainland Europe and the UK, why isn’t the reverse also easy? I could be one of a few hundred people in the US who might enjoy a Skoda Octavia wagon or a Renault Megane wagon. Brown with a manual transmission too.
Having been there, it is hard to imagine the utility of this Nissan (or a Ram) pickup in Belgium or Germany. Not many car companies seem to be able to imagine the utility of a reasonably sized and priced station wagon in the USA.
…”why isn’t the reverse also easy?”…
Something about (at least) 25 years old? No such legislation here.
I believe the cost of a RAM in the Netherlands is significantly higher than the cost over here. An Octavia or Megane sounds interesting but less so if the price is closer to a Mercedes E450 Wagon etc once landed over here…
I think it’s more a matter of not many American consumers can imagine the utility of a reasonably sized and priced station wagon in the USA rather than the manufacturers. The VW Golf wagon isn’t really setting the sales charts alight, Mazda’s 6 Wagon was an also ran when available, Subaru saw way more demand for Outbacks than Legacy wagons when both were offered, Ford sold many more Focus sedans and hatchbacks than wagons (same for Escort before that), there seemed to be dozens of Cavalier sedans/coupes compared to wagons and on. In the meantime the take rate in Europe of wagons over their sedan counterpart is pretty much the inverse.
Yeah, but you could buy a used Megane wagon in Germany for pennies and bring it over – the reason you can’t is dodgy politicians.
A Ram pickup doesn’t make much sense in Europe for a variety of reasons including cost, but some people buy them, because they can.
“Yeah, but you could buy a used Megane wagon in Germany for pennies and bring it over – the reason you can’t is dodgy politicians.”
Yes, exactly. Our government is horrible. In the early ’80s there was a market in the USA for imported “grey market” Mercedes cars. Some nonsense work was required of the companies that imported the cars but they made economic sense for both the importer and the buyer. That must also be true for the importer and buyer of the Ram trucks in Europe. And it would make sense for me to have a reasonable Euro wagon – imported by a specialist and bought by me. But our government will not allow this until that Megane/Octavia is 25 years old. The guy in Europe wants (and gets) a new Ram. I’m in the USA and want a new, simple, useful wagon like that guy in Europe doesn’t want. But I can’t get a new one; I’ve got to wait until it is 25 years old. Or buy a silly expensive Mercedes or Volvo.
Haha! I recognize that steering wheel right out of my wife’s ’14 Altima.