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New models coming to swell one-tonne pickup choice
Page 32
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• By the end of the year, one-tonne pickup buyers will have bigger-than-ever choice as a number of models go on sale for the first time.
The pickup likely to capture the most sales is Ford's longawaited P100 turbo-diesel. Right-hand-drive production is already under way in the Portuguese plant, and sales are expected to begin in June.
The other newcomer is the Volkswagen Taro, which a VAG spokesman says will come into the country "towards the end of the year". Before this, however, Toyota will be importing the first vehicles to come from the companies' joint assembly plant in Hanover, in the form of HiLux pickups due in September.
Although the Ford P100 is the established market leader, it has lost many sales to Japanese manufacturers (or in Bedford's case, assemblers) because of its lack of a diesel option. The new model looks set to redress the balance.
The engine is based on the 1,753cc unit used in the Escort vans, and turbocharging boosts its output to 55kW (74hp) at 4,500rpm and 152Nm (1121bft) at low revs — 2,200rpm.
Performance promises to be the equal of the current twolitre petrol engine, whose figures are 57kW (7'7hp) at 4,900rpm and 143Nm (1051bit) at 2,800rpm respectively.
Volkswagen plans to bring in the Taro (a badged version of Toyota's latest HiLux) in three forms: a petrol 4x2 and 4x4, and a diesel 4x4. Volkswagen says that the price of its own model and the Toyota equivalent will be "identical", although neither company will confirm that the price will match those imported from Japan. The 1.8-litre petrol 4x 2 HiLux sells at £6,390.