Most South Africans associate Peugeot with stylish city cars and crossovers. But the French brand is now adding a heavy-duty utility option to its local product portfolio. Peugeot has launched the Landtrek double-cab bakkie to compete with an array of established rivals such as the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.
The Landtrek is shaped with a sense of distinctive French style. But underneath, it’s a joint-venture project with Chinese automaker Changan.
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A robust ladder frame platform ensures that this French double-cab can carry a full tonne in its loadbox. Powering the Landtrek is a 1.9-litre turbodiesel engine, boosting 110kW and 350Nm. Fair numbers for an engine of its size.
Where this Peugeot double-cab is very clever is its cabin architecture. The switchgear, infotainment system, and general interior architecture are all sourced from Peugeot’s existing passenger vehicles. That means a great blend of physical tabs and touchscreen controls, with an overall design aesthetic that is more car-like than double-cab bakkie.
This new Peugeot bakkie plays nice with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto-enabled devices and has 10GB of hard drive data storage.
Safety and driver assistance features include a surround-view camera system, for confident low-speed manoeuvring off-road or in tricky parking situations. The cabin features six airbags and the Landtrek has both electronic stability control and trailer sway control to keep you tracking safety at speed, even when towing in severe crosswinds.
Off-road ability is quite competitive, with a generous 235mm of ground clearance and 29-degree approach angle.
To put those numbers into perspective, a Ford Ranger double-cab 4×4 has 2mm more ground clearance, but four-degrees less approach angle.
A great interior, tidy infotainment tech, and competitive loadability give the Landtrek great product fundamentals. Where things become a bit problematic is its pricing.
Peugeot Landtrek price in South Africa
The Landtrek 4×2 double cab is R579 900 and a 4×4 version is R699 900. Those price points make it much more expensive than GWM’s very capable P-Series double-cab range.
Perhaps most telling, is that you can buy a Ford Ranger or Toyota Hilux double-cab, with more power, for slightly less than the Peugeot Landtrek.
Read more: Here are the winners of the 2021 South African Car of the Year Awards
Feature image: Peugot
