Despite plenty of enthusiasm from Renault’s local office, the Navara-based Renault Alaskan dual-cab utility won’t be arriving in Australia before 2018.

Strong demand from markets in South America has seen the local launch timing for Australia pushed into 2018, frustrating Renault Australia’s efforts to cash in on booming demand for body-on-frame utilities.

“I don’t think we’ll see it inside of 2017, not for Australia,” Renault’s local boss Justin Hocevar told Wheels.

“We just don’t sit as one of the early launch markets. There are a number of other markets that are well and truly ahead of us.”

Renault -Alaskan -front

But what will set it apart from the Nissan Navara? The Alaskan shares its engine range, transmissions and almost all of its interior furniture with its Nissan-badged cousin, however Hocevar believes there will be enough points of difference to separate the two in the market.

Renault -Alaskan -interior

In a segment where even less popular players like the Volkswagen Amarok reliably sell in excess of 400 to 500 units per month, the Alaskan could quickly become Renault Australia’s highest-selling product.

“Alaskan has the potential to be one of our most popular models,” Hocevar said.

“If you think of the size of the pickup market in Australia, its growth and where our network will be by the time we launch – yeah, we’ve got a very good opportunity from a market coverage point of view.”