It seems like there's a new unforeseen manufacturer declaring intentions to dive head-first into the double-cab ute segment every week. It's an odd phenomena given the difficult birth, life, and well publicised death of the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, but it's hard to pull brands away from the lure of that sweet, sweet tradie cash.
The latest to join the movement is Peugeot, having unveiled its new Landtrek double cab last week.
Let's cut to the chase; the Landtrek is yet another ute that shares its underpinnings with something else. In this case, the bones come from the Chinese Changan Kaicheng F70. Having looked at images of both, you can tell Peugeot took the task of making its look appropriately 'Peugeotified' rather seriously.
Read more: Mercedes ute killed off — why the X-Class was destined to struggle
Apart from that distinctive grille, LED 'fangs', and innate chunkiness, the Landtrek also carries a very Peugeot dashboard design. It's much more function-over-form than the space-ship-like cabin of the 508 (a sedan so popular in the office that it made it to the AA Driven New Zealand Car of the Year finals in 2019), but it's still littered with premium elements and French oddities.
Things like the small, flat-bottomed steering wheel return, as do a pair of big luxury-car style grab handles on the front door cards, and a series of immitation rocker switches underneath the air conditioning module. The big, wide touchscreen sitting atop the dash comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a handy 360-degree camera.
The Landtrek utilises either a naturally aspirated 1.9-litre diesel or a turbocharged 2.4-litre petrol, each making 110kW/230Nm and 154kW/320Nm respectively. Entry grades are rear-wheel drive, while upper-tier models get four-wheel drive.
The inevitable question to ask is whether the Landtrek is coming to the New Zealand market, where utes continue to thrive — having dominates the top 10 in sales for years now.
Sadly for those keen for a bit of French-Chinese ute action, the left-hand drive Landtrek is reportedly aimed primarily at the South American and African markets, with other markets to follow. Given the known information a New Zealand berth was unlikely, but we asked Peugeot's local office and got a relatively sound 'no'.
No surprises there. Region-specific releases like these are nothing new, and following the story of the X-Class, they're only set to continue.
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