Ooh la la, the forbidden (to us of Del Norte) temptresses of the Southwestern Desert locales are bountiful; every time I visit I come across new and exotic species roaming the roads and sometimes parked, affording an opportunity for a little closer sniff around. Last week didn’t disappoint either, having never known of this particular interesting little beast. At first I thought it must be new and perhaps a competitor to the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz, then a little research showed that they’d both been beaten to market by over half a decade. By the French. No surrender after all, I guess.
While this one looks like it could happily resurrect Renault’s fortunes in the U.S. with a simple rebadging to become the Renault LeBro (it even rhymes!), there’d likely be more involved than just that, such as a dealer network for starters… No matter such little bagatelles, let’s take a closer look at what exactly we have here.
There are a number of small trucks roaming the lands south of the border, and we’ve covered a couple of them before including VW’s Amarok as well as the little RAM 700. While the Amarok is pretty much midsize, the RAM-let is decidedly not, however this Renault is perhaps the size that some would have preferred the Maverick (and Santa Cruz) to be. In fact it’s about a foot shorter than those overall, however the bed itself is only one inch shorter than that of the Maverick at 53″ (4ft, 5in) while still having room for five inside the crew cab. When the tailgate is down it provides a total of almost 6.5 feet of flat length, the Renault marketing materials show a motorcycle parked diagonally in the bed with the rear wheel on the tailgate, 1980s SoCal desert rider style.
I was wondering if “Oroch” was a South American word for “Roach” which would seem to be an (only objectively) perfect name for an unkillable, hardy, and ubiquitous off-road machine, but apparently it refers to a particular group of Russian people in the same way that VW’s Touareg does to a particular Saharan desert-dwelling tribe.
The Duster part of the name gives away that this is based on the Dacia / Renault Duster, however it doesn’t just slice off the rear roof to create the load bed, it was reworked extensively to also extend the wheelbase and overall length. Compared to the Ford Maverick which is somewhat familiar to most of us in North America this Renault is just under 15″ shorter and its wheelbase is just under 10″ shorter. Width is virtually identical, and height is almost five inches lower for the Renault if you disregard the roof rack. This may pretty much be the size that many were expecting the Maverick to be before it was introduced.
Drive is nominally front wheel, but 4×4 is optional with suspension being comprised of a MacPherson style front end and a Multilink rear, the maker realizing that ride comfort is important to most while still leaving capability for “rational” off-roading and non-road areas as perhaps opposed to actual rock crawling. So thoroughly modern in that regard, and clearly rugged enough to handle the roads of South America and Mexico, the areas where it is mostly sold. Assembly is apparently handled in Brazil and Colombia.
Inside there are airbags, air conditioning, a manual transmission (5 and 6 speed depending on engine choice) is standard but automatic is optional. This one even looks to have some sort of large-ish screen and of course cup holders. In other words everything necessary to perhaps be ready to invade Detroit and take the market share that they themselves seem to be leaving on the table and perhaps even turn a profit as seems to be able to occur with small vehicles in other locales. Yes, I do realize it will never happen.
Many of us are somewhat vaguely familiar with the “new” Dacia lineup, or at least that there is a reborn brand comprised of fairly practical, inexpensive, and perhaps basic vehicles (Isn’t that the CC ethos?) available in parts of the world that we don’t reside in. Looking at this one, I’m hard-pressed to see what exactly would be given up vs a “modern” vehicle, this looks no more plasticky inside and out than much of what we currently have and looks to cover all of the “necessary” bases to get people shopping for it. Ignore the Renault logo and instead picture a Chevy bowtie (blacked out of course). Louis Chevrolet did live in France and speak French when young, after all.
Engine-wise the Oroch offered a 1.6liter as well as a 2.0 which is what this one sports according to the badge. Not having EPA fuel economy numbers I can only guess that 30mpg would seem to be simple to achieve even with the oversized aftermarket wheels and tires on this one and maybe 35 or so when equipped a little more modestly in that regard.
The fortuitous positioning next to that Nissan Xterra shows a familial resemblance although the Duster Oroch was styled in France and Brazil, the general look however could easily have been carried to a new Xterra. Maybe Nissan should just bring it here and build it to fill up the large opening left by the Titan’s demise. With expensive gasoline, smaller trucks are more appealing anyway if they fit the lifestyle and use case.
Payload is just under 1,500 pounds although I wasn’t able to ascertain if that was with or without 4WD, presumably though with the 2.0liter engine and 6-speed manual. Either way, the truck apparently did well enough over the last six years to just recently be updated inside and out as well as in the engine bay with the engine lineup now consisting of the carryover 118hp 1.6l and a new 170hp 1.3l turbo engine.
I for one am impatiently looking forward to seeing more smaller and less expensive choices on the road and sales lots again, but am not sure if Detroit is really willing to go there, no matter what they “say” in regard to smaller trucks (Kudos to Hyundai and Ford for starting things off, although Hyundai seems to have priced theirs a little high and Ford seems perversely determined to cap their Maverick production to protect its larger offerings and/or profits). But perhaps a competitor or two will see an opportunity to step up to the plate and take a big swing. After all, they’ve done so before. We are supposed to have “Freedom of Choice”, however it certainly looks like the folks south of us have (and have been having) far more choice in this segment…
Related Reading:
South Of The Curb: 2020 Ram 700
Forbidden Fruit Outtake: VW Amarok TDI
Curbside New Car Non-Review: 2022 Ford Maverick
Curbside New Car Non-Review: 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
Dacia missed out not selling this version in tbe euro market. looking at its range it does not offer a crew cab pick up ,popular in Portugal, .Left wide open for the Japanese .
That’s a nice looking trucklet. The Dacia Duster SUV is quite popular in Europe, but as Mark says you don’t see the pickup version. I rented a Duster in Ireland a few years ago, and athough it felt cheap it was fun to drive.
I agree that it would make sense to slap a Nissan grille on this and sell it in the US below the Frontier.
For $20K (Yeah, I know, I know) and just rear wheel drive and standard wheels and tires, I’d buy one. I’ll never get my 2022 equivalent of my old S-10, but this would be a good substitute and allows four folks to ride. Or allow me to put my groceries in the back.
I mean… Subaru BRAT. ’nuff said. 😉
There is so much forbidden fruit to fan the flames of one’s interest. If you had not said this was smaller than a Maverick, I never would have guessed as much.
Scrolling through YouTube videos the other day I saw a headline from some automotive channel about Toyota preparing a Maverick competitor for the US. While I did not watch it, it will be interesting to see if such happens.
I saw a headline from some automotive channel about Toyota preparing a Maverick competitor for the US. While I did not watch it, it will be interesting to see if such happens.
I graduated high school and college in the 80s. The small Japanese pickups were the first new vehicle purchase for a lot of our generation. I remember one friend picking up a new Mazda B2000 for a little over $6,000 in 1987 dollars. Originally, we went into the dealer’s used car section to look but the salesman showed my friend a new truck for just a bit more. It was a shrewd move on the salesman’s part. It seems to me that a similar opportunity could be available on a widespread scale for the automaker who will introduce a budget friendly vehicle like this.
I’m guessing it will happen and that it won’t be the only one either. With Ford “selling out” the first year’s production so fast and then “selling out” the second year’s production (can’t order a 2023 anymore apparently) and making a big deal about it while as I understand it limiting production to less than 100k units of which a very small but as far as I can tell undisclosed as to exactly how small fraction might be the publicity and perhaps loss leader $20k hybrid truck, they’re just inviting more competition to enter the fold. Good on Ford to offer it in the first place, but jeez, by getting people interested, making a big deal about it, and then not letting them buy it, that seems a great way to send customers elsewhere, potentially for the long term.
Yes, it is Ford being Ford. Shoot yourself in the foot; repeat.
I have been intrigued with the Mavericks but if they are already sold out for 2023, forget it. However, I’m not sure how much traction I would gain if I were to look for one. I parked next to a Maverick several weeks ago. Daughter said it reminded her of a 14 year old boy – it has it’s adult shape but it hasn’t yet reached its adult size. Wife agreed.
” it has it’s adult shape but it hasn’t yet reached its adult size.” That is a good description, but that said, I’d certainly drive one and seriously considered placing an order for a 2023.
Yeah, but you’d drive a Chevy as long as it had a Ford logo on it. 🙂
To be honest, I’d consider the idea of one too, especially if they ever mate the hybrid with AWD but not willing to play the dealership games and by the time I get off the couch for 2024, the order books’ll probably be closed again. Either way, not buying something without driving it or a representative model first, at this point I haven’t even sat in one to see how I fit. How does one sell out of a product in 2022 six months ahead of schedule and then only plan to build enough for 2023 so that the order book has to be closed a week after opening it? It does kind of boggle the mind, as long as there is actual profit in the venture, that is. In the meantime on the same assembly line they build the Bronco Sport (which is sort of unique in the looks department and has that going for it but nothing special mechanically) and the Escape which looks friendly but isn’t really different from the two dozen competitors and if there were no supply chain issues would probably be discounted to high heaven to move the metal by now. Baffling.
I don’t know about the Hybrids being a small fraction of the output. Ford did say that the the Hybrid accounted for 60% of the 2022 custom orders. The ones I’m seeing in fleet service around here are XL Hybrids as are a fair number of the privately owned ones I’m seeing on the road.
From my understanding yes they sold out of the custom orders, but they did allocate some of the production for dealer stock orders to keep them happy.
Ford said that the hybrid was 40% of production, I was wondering above how many were Hybrid AND base, i.e. the cheap one. If all Hybrids were 40% of the total, then the $20K ($21500 with Dest.) base model would be some fraction of that. With three trim levels to choose from, being charitable might give half of that total to the base model, so 20% of the absolute total of around 65K Mavericks of any format, so 13,000 total (?) That’s obviously small potatoes, I’m curious if Ford really thought that’s all the demand would be or that’s all they wanted to build…But perhaps it makes sense seeing as how they did say they did not plan to have the Hybrid on display in showrooms, i.e. a fleet customer might order it sight unseen and some normal consumers obviously did so as well.
“A total of 40 percent of the total Ford Maverick pickups produced for the 2022 model year are Hybrids, while 60 percent of that product mix consists of 2.0L EcoBoost I-4 powered models, Ford Maverick Marketing Manager, Trevor Scott, told Ford Authority Executive Editor, Alex Luft, in a recent interview.”
There are 3,000 Ford dealers in the US, even if ALL production was allocated to stock, each dealer would only have received 22 in the entire year or less than two a month if none of the orders were custom orders, which many assuredly were. No wonder they aren’t ever seen on lots and that doesn’t even account for the other 500 Ford dealers in Canada.
I’m not arguing that it isn’t a hit, it assuredly is, and precisely why there is a HUGE opening for others to come to market. Clearly though someone didn’t do the math about what demand might be in advance or come up with a contingency plan to address that demand. Or they don’t really want to sell that many as surely the profit is significantly below what a larger truck might fetch, although I have a hard time believing that a Maverick intender can be upsold into an F-150 (or a Ranger since its pricing doesn’t seem that much lower). The competition for a Maverick Hybrid is more likely something that isn’t even a truck, bummer there is no more Focus, the problem is that once those people leave the showroom who knows if they’ll ever be back. The base price and fuel economy numbers are what created the buzz, shame the product wasn’t really available in any great numbers not just in 2022, but also for the entire next year of production! If it ever gets ramped up, there’ll likely be more players.
“Oroch” is the French pronunciation of “Aurochs”, an ancient breed of cattle that disappeared in Europe around the 17th century.
Sweet! I’ve been a fan of Dacias ever since Renault turned it into a basic no-frills low-cost brand; right up my alley. Brilliant move; it’s been one of the bright spots of the European market, and for Renault. What a lot of people don’t recognize is that the European car market is very bifurcated: premium brands largely bought through “company car” programs or other tax breaks, and cheap cars bought by regular folks, who just need some transportation when the public kind is not available.
Lots of Dacias in the smaller towns and countryside of Austria last time I was there.
This trucklet appeals to me very considerably.
My brother and his wife own the current model of the Dacia Sandero Stepway, bought new. It came with a factory bi-fuel system (gasoline/LPG).
An honest, straightforward, roomy and affordable car (to buy and to run). Just perfect, in other words.
Short bed, can’t tow anything useful, therefore not a real truck 😀 . Of course, I like it … except for the front bumper extension with its hint of a Pleksy-Gladz (Kûrvi-Tasch) mustache. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/the-cars-of-tintin-can-you-identify-them-all/ My last time in Europe was Turkey, seven years ago, where the Duster was very popular though still outnumbered by Renault 12’s and Fiat 124’s. I have seen a few Dusters in Mexico but never these pickups. Good catch, thanks for posting.
“Short bed, can’t tow anything useful, therefore not a real truck”
Well, to continue in that vein of thought, at least those that seem to lie awake at night pondering such things should be convinced that the driver of this little truck sports a gigantic penis in compensation, so there’s that selling point too… 🙂
I’ve recently bought a 2018 Dacia because my VW Transporter keeps breaking down and it is getting increasingly difficult to find people to repair it.
Dacia Logan MCV Stepway is a small estate (wagon) 177 inches long on a 103.7 inch wheelbase with a 900cc 90 bhp 3 cylinder turbo petrol engine and 5 speed manual.
I’m more familiar with VW vans, but I’ve had Toyota Aygo and Yaris and VW Polos recently. Compared to these the Dacia seems as well made, it’s nicer inside than the Toyotas, but the Polos looked nicer inside. The Dacia is more comfortable than any of them, a better gearchange than the Toyotas, but just as easy to drive as any of them. The 5th gear seems to be a high ratio but it doesn’t struggle with the cruise control set to 70mph, the last Polo (a 1200 turbo petrol) wasn’t so happy in a similar situation.
The Elephant in the room is whether it will be durable and reliable. Dacia do well in owner surveys, better than Renault and Nissan and it’s generally old proven tech.
I would have thought there would be a market for Dacia in North America, in the UK they are sold in Renault dealers, maybe they could be sold through Nissan.
They have some interesting models including the Jogger which is a small 7 seater.
I rented a Dacia Dokker van in Iceland last summer for a camping trip. I drove 1200 miles over a week, and I was reasonably impressed. The Dokker is just like the Promaster City and the Transit Connect. Given the dramatic upward price creep that has occurred in the U.S. auto market over the past two years, I wonder if Nissan could somehow pencil it out to bring in these Dacia products at a more affordable price point?
The Dacia Dokker is dead, long live the Dacia Dokker (now called the Renault Express, updates included).
Last year, Dacia stopped offering commercial vehicles. In Europe, anyway. Cars only.
The Express is positioned below the Renault Kangoo. Price- and otherwise.
It looked pretty good up until I saw the front. That bumper leaves a lot, and I do mean a lot, to be desired. I actually couldn’t drive that car anymore than get into my wife’s car until the inside is cleaned out which is best done with hurricane force suction.
Yeah that thing hanging off the bumper that presumably is supposed to look like a push bar is pretty hideous.
Not a bad looking thing, probably as much truck as many folk actually need. Big question for me would be durability, though I’d assume Renault wouldn’t survive in the South American market if this was a problem.
The name though; first thing that comes to mind is Tolkien’s Orcs.
I suggest Nissan Hustler as a name, a shoutout to the old Datsun Lil’ Hustler trucks.
This is a car that looks like a truck. It isn’t a truck at all. It would be far more useful as a wagon.
Looks like Tempe or Mesa but not Scottsdale. Palo Verde trees.
Ford can not, will not get new vehicle introductions right. This goes back decades. Jim, I don’t know if it is intentional with the Maverick or just incompetence. I suspect incompetence.
I’d like to buy a Maverick (Eco / not hybrid) but my Ford dealer is no help. It is not quick, easy or pleasant to get one – with cash in hand. In the about two years since it has been introduced I have seen as many Mavericks as you have seen Orochs – exactly one. Would never buy a Renault or Dacia or the same if it is branded as Chevy or Nissan or whatever but a real Toyota? Yes, a Toyota.
Ford has a bad problem introducing new vehicles. This is their history (though they did do the original Mustang well). Toyota does not. If Toyota chooses to compete I want one. I am tired of Ford recalls and Ford excuses though the Maverick looks perfect for my interests and the (simple) styling looks just right. I know any Toyota will look goofy but they will do it correctly and it will work as well or better than the Ford Maverick. I’ve been very loyal to Ford but there is a limit.
Take the 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE AWD sedan (MSRP $25,295)
Stretch wheelbase 5″ in the rear (replace trunk with bed)
Increase ride height 5″
This Dacia-Renault-Nissan “little” pickup is a serious player in the Southern American markets . When it was first introduced some 7 years ago , it took a lot of time to get trustworthy with , since was never before offered any ute with the Renault-Dacia emblem in a big size shared market (Mercosur) where usually the obvious choice was mainly Ford and Toyota pickups , then after appeared Volkswagen with the unimagined highly successful Amarok , leaving Chevrolet in a pale 9th place because then after appeared Fiat with another successful creature the sleek Toro pickup . Yet never ever anybody made a bet for a Renault pickup ( infact a Dacia Duster’s rebadging ) the way Renault Oroch had its debut was so timid , so unpredictable . Right now this interesting pickup isn’t only a good looking little suv but the most important : it won a lot of respect due to its inherent qualities that comes from its origins as a project born in Romenia under Renault’s latest technology . The Renault Oroch pickup is such a good competent vehicle , it sells very well in every Latino countries , so well the Regie Renault decided to build up a second assembly plant from the original Romenia to the regional Colombia . Good selling numbers for the Oroch ’cause it earned a lot of good reputation after the years . Some professionals guessed there won’t be any risk for Renault to offer its first pickup for the region . After all , perhaps Curbside Classic didn’t cite it , the Renault Oroch is one of the many derivatives of the best seller “little” sedan origined in Romenia : the Dacia Sandero . The Dacia Sandero formerly becoming Renault Stepway , assembled in Córdoba’s facility plant of Argentina , proved to be the unbeatable genius versatile car that hit all the selling records in the region . Not surprisingly , the pickup Renault Oroch is the happy consequence of the lucky Renault Sandero ( Dacia Sandero ) a car that won also the best appraisals in the European parade