Ashok Leyland Dost: The ‘GTI Killing’ bakkie that broke the internet
The much-publicised parking lot rage incident that took place over the weekend must certainly have been a traumatic ordeal for the occupants of the bakkie that escaped, and a bruised ego scenario for the driver of the Volkswagen Golf 5 GTI that was repeatedly reversed into.
However, Mzansi likes to see the lighter side of most things, and it was no surprise that social media lit up early this week with memes showing a victorious Ashok Leyland Dost and a bruised Golf GTI.
From Tekken game throwbacks to a Golf in a hospital bed, the memes came in thick and fast.
But what is this little bakkie that everyone is talking about?
The Ashok Leyland Dost, a product of India, was launched in South Africa in late 2023 and is currently the cheapest bakkie product on sale locally.
The vehicle is priced at R179,000, which buys you either a drop side or fixed side deck, and the company also offers a more modern-looking product called the Phoenix, at R279,900. Interestingly, the Dost is cheaper than it was at launch, when it listed from R229,999 to R254,999.
The Ashok Leyland Dosk is sold with a warranty that covers its owners for five-years or 150,000km, although minor scratches caused by altercations with GTIs in parking lots are still for the owner’s account.
The Ashok Leyland Dost has a payload of 1,250kg - meaning you could almost put the Golf GTI on the back once the demolition derby is over.
However, with power coming from a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder engine that produces an earth-shattering 44kW and 159Nm, it might be slightly slower than a GTI in a robot-to-robot race; and by slower, we mean you’d probably need a calendar to measure its 0-100km/h sprint time.