Show time for VW Amarok

VOLKSWAGEN will throw its hat into the hotly contested Australian ute market at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney where it will pull the covers from the local version of the its all-new Amarok in mid October.

VW Group Australia (VGA) has confirmed to GoAuto that the show will mark the first local reveal of the Argentinean-built ute that will be launched in diesel-powered five-seat, dual-cab guise before being extended with single-cab and petrol variants at a later date.

However, the company is less specific about when the Amarok will go on sale, saying it still hopes for a late 2010 launch as planned.

GoAuto understands the launch date might have slipped out a few weeks from the company’s original, unannounced target date, but VGA general manager press and PR Karl Gehling said the company had only ever said it planned to launch the Amarok in late 2010.

“Until we lock in production dates, we can’t say when it will go on sale,” he said.

Asked if there was a chance the launch could slip back into 2011, he said: “Not at this stage.”

Either way, the Amarok will give VAG a flying start into 2011, providing extra sales propulsion into next year, along with the Polo GTI (arriving late in 2010 too), Caddy van (first quarter) and new Jetta sedan (sometime in 2011).

VAG’s managing director, Anke Koeckler, told GoAuto last week that the company’s sales goals were to outpace the market rise this year and to consolidate its crown as the leading European importer.

So far, VW sales in Australia are up 22.6 per cent in 2010, against the market rise of 19.9 per cent. However, with new Polo now hitting its straps, the sales rate could rise.

The Amarok has already gone into production at VW’s General Pacheco plant in Argentina where it will be built for South America, Russia, South Africa, Australia and Europe.

VAG’s publicity blitz to alert potential buyers that the ladder-chassis Amarok was on its way started last year when it invited Australian journalists to drive it in Argentina.

It will keep the pot boiling with another international drive program next month, this time in South Africa – the other main right-hand drive market for the ute aside from Australia.

The Amarok TDI diesel engines to be available at launch are both 2.0-litre four-cylinders featuring common-rail fuel-injection, similar to units available in the T5 Transporter van range, but with different calibration.

The entry-level unit features a single variable-geometry turbocharger and produces 90kW of power and a healthy 340Nm of torque at 2000rpm. The other has two variable-geometry turbochargers and produces 120kW and 400Nm from just 1500rpm.

Fuel economy is said to range from 7.6 litres per 100km to 8.1L/100km, giving the Amarok a projected 1000km range.

VW will offer front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive alternatives, but only with a six-speed manual transmission at launch. A DSG automatic will follow at a later date.

As well, a single-cab variant reportedly will follow in 2011, and if VGA has its way, a cab-chassis will also be considered beyond that.