Renault Alaskan Concept Truck

Renault has given us a good view of what its version of the Nissan Navara will look like when it’s launched next year.

The French firm will be putting its own Gallic spin on the light truck, as part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, to provide the second one-tonne 4x4 truck from a European manufacturer, following Volkswagen’s successful Amarok.

Mercedes-Benz will be another company to join them when it does its pick-up, which will again be built on the Navara platform, but isn’t expected until 2018.

The Alaskan Concept is said to be close to what the production Renault ute will looks like.

Drop the 21-inch alloy wheels, the flash lighting and some of the bling off the concept and you can see its Nissan heritage and how Renault has given it its French flair.

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The production version is expected to target the premium recreational ute buyer and skip the tradie market; however, Renault claims that the vehicle will still have a full one-tonne load capacity with five passengers on board.

The ute will share the Navara’s chassis including the class-unique coil-spring rear suspension and will be powered by the same bi-turbo 2.3-litre diesel engine and 4x4 drivetrain.

The production version will be launched in the first half of 2016 but vehicles are not expected to reach Australia until later in the year or even early 2017.