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As our Brazilian friend Stingray pointed out in today’s Curbside Classic thread, the FWD trucklet isn’t dead… it’s on vacation in South America. And new models are arriving all the time. This May, the popular Brazilian-market models Stingray lists below will be joined by the Peugeot Hoggar Escapade, a 207-based compact truck with the best name to come out of PSA since Bipper Tepee. Fun fact: with a maximum engine displacement of 1.6 liters pulling a 1,650 lb max payload, it actually carries more weight per liter of displacement than the latest generation of the Silverado Heavy Duty (6,335 lbs with the 6.6 liter Duramax).
24 Comments on “What’s Wrong With This Picture: Keep On Truckleting Edition...”
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A Peugeot pickup truck is just asking to have sand kicked in its face at the beach. I’m struggling to find a simile to describe what an oxymoron this thing is.
Peewee Herman wearing Chuck Norris boxer shorts, maybe?
The name “Hogger” doesen’t help either. Oh, did I misspell that?
How about Sacha Baron Cohen’s effeminate French Formula 1 driver joining NASCAR in Talladega Nights?
Or a poodle on a ‘coon hunt?
Fun fact: with a maximum engine displacement of 1.6 liters pulling a 1,650 lb max payload, it actually carries more weight per liter of displacement than the latest generation of the Silverado Heavy Duty (6,335 lbs with the 6.6 liter Duramax).
However, as the saying goes, you can’t create a baby by having nine women pregnant for one month each, you need one woman pregnant for nine months. If you need to haul 3 tons at once, you can’t use 4 Hoggar’s.
Or it just proves the inefficient nature of most Detroit designs, from the beginning of time.
At least the Duramax can pull the Silverado HD’s 3 ton capacity with ease. Can the same be said about 1.6 liters of engine pulling approximately a ton and a half?
My eyes!
Edward
When you move into your new house, I suggest you do it using just one of these, or a Honda Ridgeline. I am sure it will be much more efficient than the” awful” Detroit designs. I’m still trying to find Efficiency= Load carrying capacity/engine displacement in my Thermo text.
I’ll actually be using a first-gen, 4-cylinder Tacoma, thanks. Should get the job done just fine.
As for all the defensive reactions to my “fun fact,” I recommend a few deep breaths. Clearly the two vehicles are not directly comparable, and the point of comparison was intentionally quirky. Even if the payload/displacement factor were significant on an engineering level, the marginal difference between the two vehicles is tiny.
Of far greater significance from an efficiency standpoint (since you bring it up) is the ability to use the most efficient tool for your needs. Payload/displacement might be meaningless from an engineering standpoint, but something similar like payload/MPG could certainly be an important shopping consideration. Detroit’s problem isn’t that it makes “awful” trucks (I’m not sure why you would use quotes to make it look like I used that term), it’s that it refuses to jeopardize full-size profits by giving Americans a choice of trucks to fit different lifestyles. I’m not even talking about car-based things like the Hoggar… I’d be happy if the Detroit OEMs made any kind of effort to modernize and diversify their compact pickup options, instead of feeding us crap like this.
Oops, the “awful” remark was meant for Chuck, my bad.
The El Camino and Ranchero were off again on again for a long time, as well as the smaller FWD versions. My Dad had a Ranchero in the late 60s , a stripper, not even a radio. I drove it a lot and loved it. I tried to buy one in the 70s but could make the deal. But not enough people did to keep them around. It was a sales issue, with little to do with full size trucks.
For those bashing it, I don’t think Mr. Niedermeyer is suggesting that these things should supplant the detroit offerings.
Vehicles of this size even with FWD are still useful though, and if they offered them in the US we’d have something akin to an actual *compact* truck again.
Right on Bancho, I think these would definitely sell in North America. Well, the Chev and Ford, anyway. Not everyone needs a stump-pullin’ oil-burnin’ land freighter…
When (if?) CAFE starts affecting light trucks we will see a lot more of these come up north.
I don’t think these pickups would sell very well in the U.S. because of the limited passenger capacity. Look at regular cab pickup sales vs. extended and crew cab. If they sold a version with a larger cab (more seating) there may be a small market but they would have to be priced considerably less than the current compact pickups sold here as I don’t think the better fuel economy on its own is enough to make them preferable to compact pickups to very many potential buyers.
I’m the opposite opinion. There have to be thousands if not tens of thousands of people like me who occasionally need the hauling capacity of a light pickup that don’t want to deal with the downside of the pickup, i.e. the rough handling and the higher fuel appetite.
I would love something like this, to go to Home Depot, pickup a few sheets of plywood, maybe a water heater, haul my drum kit to gigs, etc. I don’t need or want a Silverado to do that kind of hauling, but since there are no or very few reasonable alternatives, I’m doing without.
A small truck like one of these (or the old Rampage or VW Pickup) for the occasional handyman, with a small peppy engine and FWD would be something you could use everyday, without the muscle car fuel mileage. I need a small hauler, I need something good on fuel, I need something that I can park easily in the city.
The Ranger, the old Japanese pickups, while small and rugged, are still not a good vehicle in heavy snow country that I live in now. I like having FWD for that reason alone. Even my other old love, the Dodge Dakota, is now too huge and fat to be something I would consider anymore.
I think these would sell well, especially in an environment where we regularly pay $3 and $4/gallon for fuel. Between rising fuel costs and EPA mileage standards, I think we’ll see something like these again.
Fun fact: with a maximum engine displacement of 1.6 liters pulling a 1,650 lb max payload, it actually carries more weight per liter of displacement than the latest generation of the Silverado Heavy Duty (6,335 lbs with the 6.6 liter Duramax).
Engine displacement has nothing to do with payload capacity. This has to do with suspension and chassis.
For the same reason, one doesn’t compare the 0-60 times on cars based on the engine displacement of those cars.
I wish the would sell it in North American market. It would combine car fuel economy with utility. I’ll take any, but I do like the most Peugeot Hoggar.
OK, here’s the $64,000 question – will 4′ wide building materials fit in the bed?
I know it’s not 8′ long, and the plywood will have to be angled up and rest on the tailgate – just like with my Ranger. But will it accept something 4′ wide?
A lot of what is carried in PUs isn’t really that heavy, it’s just bulky. There’s not much room for bulk here.
Make it with a stand-up bicycle carrier in the bed and I’m a potential customer.
This thing is probably close in size if not identical to the Dacia Logan Pick-up. That vehicle has a tailgate that is just a shade under 4′ wide and the interior width of the cargo area is greater than 4′ so I’d say from looking at pics of the Logan, you’d be able to haul some plywood with this thing assuming it would be resting at an angle sticking out over the tailgate. Looking at pics of the Logan Pick-up it seems to have a decently deep bed. I can say with certainty that a vehicle like this would handle any hauling I’ve needed to do over the last several years.
I long for the little trucks we had available back in the ’80’s. Back then we had the Mazda, Mitsu, Isuzu, Toyota, Nissan to choose from as well as actual compacts from the domestics. Sure, they only seated 2 (or 3 very close friends) and had little in-cab storage, but they were good sturdy little vehicles that were easy on fuel and fun to drive. Sure, if I needed to pull a trailer or do heavy hauling I’d get a full-size, but in reality an actual compact pickup suits my actual needs 99.75% of the time.
The other beauty of an actual compact pickup is the ability to reach in and grab something from the bed without climbing up into it. Loading/unloading is so much easier.
edit: I’ll be damned if the upcoming Ford Focus wouldn’t be a neat vehicle to turn into one of these. The Focuchero!
“Fun fact: with a maximum engine displacement of 1.6 liters pulling a 1,650 lb max payload, it actually carries more weight per liter of displacement than the latest generation of the Silverado Heavy Duty (6,335 lbs with the 6.6 liter Duramax).”
I’m not sure what the point of that comparison is. The 6.0 liter gasser in my GMC 2500HD can carry just as much weight as a similar truck with the Duramax.
By the way I dropped a 3500 lb. pallet of pavers in the bed of mine, hooked a 2000 lb. enclosed trailer to it, loaded 4 people, 2 dogs in the cab and headed north for the weekend. Crew cab PU’s are the real SUV’s.
The VW’s got a terrible name, but is also by far the best looker of the bunch. Thanks for the links.
Mr. Edward, please fix your text. I’m Venezuelan not Brazilian. Thanks.
Yes the links I provided are all from Brazil, but is because those things are not being imported here since at least 2 years ago. And they’re for the most part engineered in Brazil
I’d buy something with this size and styling in a minute.
Nice article Mr Niedermayer
Actually this Brazilian model is not based on the real 207, it is based on the re styling of the venerable 206 which is branded in Brazil as 206.5 or 206 Plus and in Mexico as the 207 Compact.
In Mexico, GM did the same with the Opel Corsa gen 2 Restyled, branded as the Chevy C a few years ago and now has a mini Pickup, branded as Tornado with a 1.8 engine.
VW nowdays as stated on another comment, has the Saveiro and had another based on the Pointer platform.
This mini Pickups are used very extensively in Mexico as utility /delivery trucks, which make sense on urban areas where you wouldn’t use a Full sized truck.
What would be a good move for PSA/Peugeot Latinamerica could be a DIESEL version of the Hoggar 206.5 or whatever name they will use… Torque to move loads could be a good idea.
Actually they have a vanette with the 1.6 HDI Diesel, the Partner.
Best regards!
when is Mahindra, going to launch in the U.S, we’re starving for a small truck, I would buy a chevy montana if they offered it here.