THE Volkswagen Saveiro is one of those vehicles that doesn’t deviate much from its intended purpose. It’s first and foremost an honest workhorse of a pickup.

This honesty of purpose starts from its very look. It isn’t a bunch of generic styling themes thrown together. No fake chrome, or faux fender flares are to be found in an attempt to make it more macho visually. One look and two elements are clear: it’s a small pickup truck and it’s a Volkswagen.

Inside, things are just as focused. The interior isn’t filled with the clutter of useless buttons. Get in and even those without experience with the brand will have little problem getting attuned to operating the essentials. Whatever items need to be powered, such as the windows, is so and no more.

The material quality can be described as industrial, which is necessary for a pickup expected to earn its way through its life. That means easy to clean fabric and hard-wearing plastic are standard. The interior is comfortable for two and two alone in the single cab; the rest of space is designated to small storage areas. It’s also safe since the Saveiro comes with driver and front passenger airbag.

The Saveiro’s size is its key advantage. No bigger than your regular sedan it can zip through traffic, be parked in spaces and at angles unavailable to its larger rivals. Nintey-three horsepower from a 1.6-litre engine may not sound like much, but since most of that power isn’t relegated to lugging around its own body weight, laden or unladen, the Saveiro is a punchy vehicle in any of its five gears. There’s plenty of low-end torque to pull passengers and goods. The heavy-duty suspension allows the fully lined cargo bed to handle its capacity. Unshackled from cargo, the Saveiro is very car-like in its driving experience.

Starting as low as $2.4 million for the single-cab version, the VW Saveiro is a simple, back to basic commercial pickup that benefits from its sedan-based roots.