Trak Pikap Maxus V Mungkin Datang Ke Malaysia

Adakah trak pikap Maxus baharu ini MENGHENTIKAN rakyat Malaysia daripada membeli T60 semasa? Sebenarnya, minat untuk trak pikap semasa tidak banyak.

Maxus baru-baru ini melancarkan trak pikap konsep yang dipanggilo Maxus V di Pameran Auto Chengdu 2020. Trak pikap baharu ini bukan konsep dan kelihatan siap untuk produksi dan hanya menunggu nama yang tepat dan tentu saja harganya.

Maxus adalah jenama kenderaan yang merupakan sebahagian daripada gergasi automotif China, SAIC, yang kebetulan juga memiliki nama MG-Rover.

Tumpuan utama kepada pikap dan kenderaan penumpang besar lain seperti minivan dan SUV, kenderaan China ini juga dijual di Malaysia di bawah panji Westar Maxus.

Secara kebetulan, Maxus juga menjual trak pikap di dalam negara. T60 adalah trak pikap yang tidak begitu diminati di pasaran Malaysia kerana khidmat lepas jualannya agak goyang dengan penjaga jenamanya di Malaysia dan juga harga yang lebih baik yang ditawarkan oleh Tan Chong untuk Nissan Navara dan Isuzu untuk pikap D-Max mereka.

KENYATAAN MEDIA: This bold new look as seen on the concept may be attempting to change that fate. 

The first thing that strikes anyone about this menacing looking pickup truck is probably its massive front grille. 

It seems Maxus has taken a leaf out of Mitsubishi’s design handbook and decided to go along with the slim LED headlights and large vertical intakes. However, instead of a Dynamic Shield grille as on the tri-diamond brand, Maxus went all out with this bold, in-your-face front grille with large horizontal chrome bars, and the Maxus script spelt out in large bold letters. 

The rear too is equally brash with the Maxus script again spelt out in large bold letters. A nice touch is the black trim piece on the tailgate that acts as the background to these chromed-out Maxus script. Working together with the black bumpers, it breaks up the rear design of the car and makes it look butch yet sophisticated. 

Speaking of sophisticated though, the lighting situation at the rear deserves an honourable mention, with its nearly wraparound light bar design. While the red strips on the tailgate are most likely purely decoration, and would not work as anything but reflectors, it ties in nicely with the rear light cluster design. 

Moving on to side profile of this menacing pickup truck, it has some cool design touches too. The subtle polished aluminium rubbing strips and side vents add a touch of class to this utilitarian design. The body coloured roll bar and the integrated roof box is also a nice touch on the concept, but the chances of them sticking around till the production version is slim. 

It is also from the side that this Maxus concept pickup signifies its off-road intentions the loudest, with its chunky off-road tires, jacked up ride height and the black plastic arch extenders over the already pronounced arches of this pickup truck. 

That being said, maybe because of its long thin LED lights, it does look a lot like the current Mitsubishi Triton. 

On the inside, the pickup retains a comparatively production-ready interior, especially for a concept car. A large Mercedes-esque infotainment and instrument screen combination would be a first for any truck, even including the Navara-based Mercedes X-Class. The production-spec gear lever and multi-function steering wheel also looks premium and upmarket, not the norm in this segment of vehicle. 

Overall, looking past the futuristic seats and the lime-green interior colour, this could well be the new interior for the next Maxus pickups and it is no bad thing. 

As for powertrain options, being a static display this particular Maxus concept has no engine or gearbox. However, production versions of pickups based on this concept is slated to come with a 2.0 turbodiesel mated to an 6-speed automatic gearbox that is good for 160 hp and 375 Nm of torque. 

Rumours are also abound that there might even be a twin-turbocharged 2.0 oil-burning mill mated to an 8 speed ZF automatic gearbox that will put out a healthy 217 hp and 480 Nm of torque in the works. This is in addition of course to the rumoured PHEV and full EV version that will be possibly be joining the range soon after. 

In regards to the possibility of the production version of this pickup making its way here, there is precedent already so the likelihood is high. Would Malaysians be willing to defect to this pickup truck from its other established rivals though, that is another question entirely.