Near-production sketches of Amarok released

VOLKSWAGEN has released a sketch of a new near-production version of its forthcoming Amarok light commercial utility. 

The Ford Ranger-based dual-cab ute features what VW describes as “dynamic, self-assured styling”. On top of “a whole host of new features”, the new Amarok will offer a greater array of driver assistance and safety technologies, many of which will be shared with its Ranger cousin. 

The Wolfsburg-based brand’s new ute is said to offer improved ground clearance, which should improve the model’s off-road prowess – and probably a low-range transfer case, for the first time, as well as new convenience features that VW says will make daily driving more comfortable.

The new model has grown 100mm in length and now measures 5350mm from bumper to bumper. It is also 40mm wider than before with more second-row legroom – and hopefully, this time, curtain airbags for passengers seated on the rear bench.

“We emphasise the different, expressive designs of our pick-up with a charismatic Amarok signature that is also found with very large letters on the cargo box at the rear and is sported very proudly by the Amarok,” Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles head of design Albert-Johann Kirzinger said.

“Needless to say, a Euro pallet fits between the wheel housings again, and of course loads can be safely secured. The styling bar in the cargo box is a visual extension of the double cab, which gives the Amarok’s body dynamic, aerodynamic and very strong proportions,” he added.

Mr Kirzinger said the comfort, operating concept, connectivity and ambience in the new Amarok’s interior would ensure that the new model raises the benchmark for pick-ups in the global one-tonne B-segment market to a whole new level.

The Amarok’s cabin will also apparently be very similar to that of the new Ranger, which offers much-improved storage spaces and a decluttered fascia, with many of the old centre stack’s hard-button functions now incorporated into the menus of the portrait-style touchscreen infotainment system. 

“The uncluttered, masculine architecture, the elements designed in a machine-like fashion, the clear, taut surfaces and a particularly high-quality cockpit emphasise the Amarok’s right to claim premium vehicle status,” Mr Kirzinger said previously.

Due to arrive in showrooms at some point in 2022, the new Amarok was codesigned by teams in Australia and Germany and will be produced at Ford Motor Company of South Africa’s Silverton assembly plant. Amarok draws its name from the North American Inuit word for “Wolf”.

Although Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has yet to the announce the range’s engine line-up, Lars Menge, the division’s head of product marketing said “we are continuing to use highly efficient TDI diesel engines and there will be a powerful V6 TDI available in the future.”

It’s unlikely, however, that the VW Group's current 190kW (200kW on overboost)/580Nm 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel motor will be retained. Top versions of the Amarok are likely to be powered by the Ford-sourced 3.0-litre V6 Power Stroke turbo-diesel engine mated with a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The rest of the range will probably feature single- and twin-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel motors, in combination with either a 10-speed and six-speed shift-by-wire automatic transmission.

However, Menge added “depending on the market, the Amarok will be moving forward… as a diesel or petrol vehicle”, which suggests the VW ute may also be offered with a petrol engine at some point.

The Wolfsburg-based brand has sold more than 815,000 exemples of the original Amarok since sales commenced in 2010.