Saveiro is the bakkie that Mzansi just can't get over

“VOLKSWAGEN South Africa is really showing us the middle finger with this one,” exclaimed a recent post about the Volkswagen Saveiro on a popular social media group. This is one of many similar posts over the years, showing that South Africans really can’t get over the fact that VWSA has never introduced this Brazilian half-tonne bakkie to South Africa.

- JASON WOOSEY

THE Saveiro was considered for the local market, but never made it here.

There was once a time when South Africans were spoiled for choice when it came to compact, half-ton bakkies.

From the Ford Bantam to the Fiat Strada, the Opel Corsa Utility that eventually morphed into the Chevrolet Utility and Nissan’s long-serving NP200 that effectively killed off the segment when it was discontinued as the last half-tonner standing in 2024.

Volkswagen SA also sold the Caddy, based on the MK1 Golf, until the early 2000s, but it has never fielded a modern contender in the half-tonne space, causing many fans and potential customers to question why the Saveiro never came here. After all, it really would have been an obvious fit for our market.

The Saveiro is a unibody bakkie based on the now-discontinued Volkswagen Gol hatchback. Both products were designed and developed for South America. The third-generation Saveiro, although still on sale in its home market, is long in the tooth, having been introduced way back in 2009.