Background to award
As regular readers know, we have been invited to join the jury that selects the winner of the International Pick-Up Award. This is THE most prestigious award in the world of bakkies – by far. It started back in 2009 and, since then, every other year, the International Pick-up Award has been presented to the most efficient one-tonne pick-up truck in business today. The pick-ups in contention for the main prize are judged on their commercial merits, plus their capabilities and abilities on and off-road.
The current title holder is the Toyota Hilux; it won the International Pick-up Award 2022/2023. Former winners of this prestigious biennial title include the Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara, and Volkswagen Amarok, with the Ranger and Amarok winning on two occasions over the years.
This year’s competition
Finalists in the competition are put through their paces during a comprehensive group test, which has always taken place somewhere in Europe. This year, for the first time, it took place on the Athens Riviera, in and around a little town called Anavyssos.
The group test is always organised and hosted by one of the jury members (in theory, we could host it in South Africa one day). This time around, it was organised by Agrimanaki Publications, which owns the leading Greek commercial vehicle magazine, Troxoi & TIR. Vassilis Daramouskas, its Senior Test Editor, represents Greece on the jury.
The judging panel includes journalists from 17 countries, including South Africa. The journalists at this year’s group test were accompanied by development engineers from Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen.
There are four finalists this year and, as you will discover, a finalist can be a range or a particular model. They are (in alphabetical order): the Ford Ranger, Ford Raptor, Toyota Hilux GR Sport II and Volkswagen Amarok.
Ford Ranger
Much like its sibling, the Volkswagen Amarok, the Ranger comes in a multitude of models. And Ford delivered a tremendous line-up of vehicles to the group test for us to evaluate.
However, we will focus on two models that are of great interest to South Africans, namely the Tremor and Wildtrak X, which are both only available with the 2.0-litre bi-turbo EcoBlue diesel engine. (The former is coming to South Africa next year; we already have the latter.)
Both of these are brilliant bakkies – both on and offroad. They have lots of features – Rock Crawl mode, Trail Turn Assist and Trail Control, to mention but a few – that convert a novice off-roader into a Dakar pro.
During the group testing, we also took a quick spin in the Ranger Platinum, which is being launched in South Africa next year. Wow. This really is the ultimate Ranger (we’re forgetting about our favourite, the Raptor, for now). It oozes luxury. It’s a great option for someone who wants a bakkie but doesn’t want to compromise on comfort. It’s going to be interesting to see how it’s priced when it debuts here; it certainly won’t be cheap!
Ford Raptor
Lots of people have wondered why we decided to separate the Ranger from the Raptor in the competition. After all, the Raptor forms part of the South African Ranger line-up. It was done for a number of logical reasons.
Most importantly, it’s a completely different animal from the rest of the range. Whereas the Ranger is a proper bakkie, which can be used as a workhorse, the Raptor is a high-performance vehicle that’s designed for fun and not work. It’s built in a separate factory, and it has a completely different underbody with a wider track. The vehicle itself is 11 mm longer than the regular Ranger. It is higher and it has a different 3.0-litre engine.
It's also in a completely different league. It’s an absolute hoot to drive and it’s great both on and off-road.
The average standard fuel consumption is 13.8 litres/100 km – that’s if you’re NOT driving it as though you stole it. The payload is a mere 652kg. We don’t care. It may well be our favourite Ford – ever.
Toyota Hilux GR Sport II
A brand new model that’s not available in South Africa yet (although it is currently under valuation), the GR Sport II was tested by the jury in advance of its overseas launch.
The double cab Hilux GR Sport II features a really cool, totally butch design (Chuck would love it), coupled with best-in-class towing (3,500kg) and payload (1,000kg). It features an increase in tread, which is expanded by 140mm at the front and 155mm at the rear compared to the standard Toyota Hilux. It also has an enhanced suspension and brakes. The new lighter 17-inch wheels are equipped with all-terrain tyres to enhance grip and overall stability. Precise, powerful braking provides peace of mind thanks to the front discs that have been expanded from 16 to 17 inches, and new 15-inch discs on the rear, which replace the previous drums.
It has the existing 2.8-litre engine, introduced to the Hilux range in 2020, which delivers 150kW and 500Nm of torque. It is matched to a six-speed automatic transmission. While it’s not great at high speeds on dirt, we loved driving it on tar and at low speeds off-road.
The Hilux GR Sport II will be launched in Europe next year; fingers crossed it comes to South Africa too.
Volkswagen Amarok
Finally, there is the sibling of the Ford Ranger, namely the Volkswagen Amarok. It’s common knowledge that the two vehicles were codeveloped. They’re even built in the same factory.
However, someone who doesn’t know this won’t realise that they’re siblings. They look quite different – both inside and out. And the two companies go to great pains to market them as different vehicles.
And yes, this German bakkie (which is built in South Africa) does feel completely different to the Ranger. We particularly like the softer suspension and luxurious interior (Volkswagen only delivered top-of-the-range models, namely the Aventura and PanAmericana – equipped with the V6 motor – to the group test).
We really enjoyed driving the Amarok in all parts of the group test. As we navigated the Athens Riviera on tar roads, we marvelled at the level of comfort and safety (there are gazillions of safety features). It was excellent off-road too.
The big reveal
But which bakkie will win the ultimate accolade? The winner of the 2024/2025 International Pickup Award will be announced at the Solutrans exhibition on 22 November in Lyon, France. Stay tuned for details!
Photography by Alexandros Vetoulis, Giorgos Detis, Torbjørn Eriksen and Charleen Clarke
