How does the newly-introduced Peugeot Landtrek compare to its most obvious rival?
After an absence of many decades, Peugeot has returned to the South African bakkie market with the Landtrek.
The French brand is keen on harvesting some of the local market’s very profitable double-cab bakkie demand, but the competition is significant.
Peugeot has priced the Landtrek way beyond the psychological R500 000 barrier, with its Landtrek 4×2 double cab retailing at R579 900 and the 4×4 at R669 900. Those price points are rather ambitious, to put it mildly.
You can buy a Hilux – for less
For R30 000 less than the Landtrek 4×4, you can buy a Hilux 2.4 GD6 4×4 auto in Raider speciation. At R638 200 the Hilux is a better bakkie in every possible way, but for the Peugeot’s neatly designed and interesting cabin that looks to be pulled mostly from the 3008 SUV.
An even bigger issue for Peugeot’s Landtrek, is the Chinese question. This is not a French bakkie – at all! It is not even sold in France. The Landtrek is a Chinese double-cab. A rebadged version of the Changan Kaicene F70.
Forget about the idea of a European brand association. The Landtrek should be compared to a rival Chinese bakkie, to see if it offers any unrecognized value. And that becomes even more problematic.
GWM’s P Series has taken the local market by storm. This double cab is a clear indication of the rapidly evolving ability of the Chinese automotive industry to develop a quality product.
The P Series offers more power and gears than the Landtrek. Although the French bakkie slightly edges it, in ultimate off-road ability.
P Series has more power and gears
Engine specification is perhaps the most significant issue for Landtrek, other than price.
Peugeot only has a 1.9-litre turbodiesel on offer in the Landtrek, boosting 110 kW and 350 Nm. Those aren’t terrible output numbers for an engine of 1.9-litres, but compared to the P-Series, it lags.
GWM’s P Series only has 100cc more capacity, but its 2-litre turbodiesel produces 120 kW and 400 Nm. And crucially, those engine outputs are leveraged by an eight-speed automatic transmission.
With more gears, P Series offers better overtaking acceleration and all-around performance than Landtrek’s six-speed auto.
Landtrek potentially better than P-Series on the trail
Both bakkies are quite equally matched off-road.
The Landtrek has a marginal 3 mm advantage in ground clearance (235- to 232 mm), with each offering an electronically locking rear differential and low range.
Peugeot can also claim some superiority in approach angle geometry, with the Landtrek’s 29-degree approach angle being greater than the GWM premium double-cab’s 27-degrees.
You can’t ignore the price
GWM’s P Series LT (its top-spec offering) is R599 900 and lacks for nothing, despite being R70 000 cheaper than Peugeot’s Landtrek.
It matches Landtrek’s infotainment offering (the touchscreen is only an inch narrower) but has adaptive cruise control and comprehensive driver assistance systems.
Even the P Series LS 4×4 double-cab, at R494 900, is still competitively equipped and undercuts its Peugeot rival by nearly R175 000.
Product diversity is always welcome. But Peugeot’s Landtrek is priced to have quite a challenging time, in the bitterly competitive local double-cab market.
