There are persistent rumours that the Ford Bantam compact single-cab bakkie could be revived.
The South African sub-1-tonne single-cab bakkie market is a shadow of its former self. We can remember multiple entrants across the brands being represented, like the Opel Corsa/Chevrolet Ute, Fiat Strada, Nissan NP200, Mazda Rustler and Ford Bantam. With all of those, but the Nissan NP200, discontinued, SA consumers’ focus has shifted to the larger single-cab bakkie offerings like the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara, Isuzu D-Max and so on.
However, the world has shown a renewed interest in small-bakkie offerings. While the Fiat Strada and Volkswagen Saveiro soldier on in South America, there have been two significant launches in North America.
With the launch of the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick, interest and demand in the compact bakkie has skyrocketed. We’ve noticed a considerable amount of social media commentary expressing a desire for these products, despite them being left-hand drive only and, therefore, unavailable to our right-hand-drive market.
The Maverick and the Santa Cruz are highly in demand. Hyundai USA says its Santa Cruz was the fastest-selling new car in North America in August 2021, while more than 100 000 buyers have made reservations for the Ford.
SA’s best bakkie? Check out our buyer’s guide comparison test
So, what does this mean for South Africa? During a press recent conference, Hau Thai-Tang, chief product platform and operations officer at Ford Motor Company said to Muscle Cars and Trucks that the brand needs “an affordable, entry vehicle to bring first-time buyers into the showroom.” When asked about a potential smaller bakkie opportunity, he said “Maybe, there is certainly (possibilities) in other markets like South America and South Africa.”
This is where things get interesting. CarsGuide reported that Ford and Volkswagen would leverage their current commercial relationship to build a new compact SUV, with the Aussie publication suggesting a rebadged Ford version of the all-new Saveiro (the current model is old) based on the 2018 VW Tarok concept was on the cards.
Volkswagen South Africa has said repeatedly that it would not be bringing the Saveiro to our market, citing left-hand drive conversion and the advanced age of the vehicle. It is built on an old Polo platform, after all.
> Read More: 2018 Volkswagen Tarok Concept
We know already that Ford and Volkswagen are working closely together on a number of products. It’s common knowledge the all-new Ranger and Amarok will be twins, and we’ve already seen the first production units of the all-new Volkswagen Caddy and Ford Tourneo be revealed.
So, could we see the new Bantam essentially being the Ford production version of the Volkswagen Tarok? The South American media reckon the Saveiro will be replaced in 2024 and we think the Tarok concept previews its replacement. It wouldn’t take too much heavy lifting to get some Ford mechanicals in there along with some Blue Oval badging, and the result would be the 2025 Ford Bantam.
Watch this space as we think a revival of the sub-1-ton bakkie market in South Africa is on the cards.
