All will come off on 7 July
With less than 48 hours to go before the debut of the all-new Volkswagen Amarok on 7 July, the automaker has released what is likely to be the final snippets of details before the wraps come off at 10h00.
Ending a production run of almost twelve years and local market sales of 41 422 units, the second generation Amarok, like its European only predecessor, the Toyota Hilux-based Taro, will revert back to badge engineering in the form of a more extensively revised version of the new Ford Ranger.
Externally teased no less than five times, first in 2020 then last year via a pair of sketches, followed by another drawing in February this year, in April through a number of pre-production depictions and then last month, the Amarok will switch to the updated T6.2 platform used by the Ranger, Ranger Raptor and Everest and have the following dimensions;
While set to return its of 3 500 kg towing capacity, depending on the model, the claimed payload increases by 350 kg to 1 200 kg, with certain markets being privy to a single cab not offered since 2017.
ALSO READ: Resourceful Volkswagen continues teasing new Amarok ahead of 7 July debut
Spied undergoing testing in September last year, Amarok will initially have a choice of four trim levels; Life, Style, PanAmericana and Aventura with the latter set to come with wheel sizes measuring up to 20-inches.
“The new Amarok is a much better pick-up than if Volkswagen had done it alone. The same goes for Ford: without our input, the new Ranger wouldn’t be so good. The partnership has allowed us to pool our individual strengths,” Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Marketing Head, Lars Krause, told Britain’s Autocar back in April.
Set to be offered as standard with LED headlights or the Matrix I.Q. LEDs as an option, the Amarok’s interior, teased first in December and then January, has been subtly tweaked from that of the Ranger in lieu of comments made back in 2020 by Commercial Vehicles Head of Design, Albert-Johann Kirzinger.
“We know what our Amarok means to our customers and fans in Australia. And that’s the reason why we are really working hard to have a 100 per cent Volkswagen, a true Volkswagen, and not only a rebadged Ford. I want you to rest assured that this Amarok will be a real beast,” now defunct Australian online publication, caradvice.com.au, quoted him saying.
Also wading in to the debacle was Volkswagen’s Managing Director for Australia, Michael Bartsch, who told carexpret.com, “I’m absolutely confident that what you’ll see are two products with two very specific, very distinct characters. And one will attract the Ford buyer and one will attract the Volkswagen buyer.”
As such, the images shows the interior retaining the portrait-style infotainment system in 10.1 or twelve-inches, surrounded by reshaped air vents, physical switchgear, a Volkswagen specific steering wheel and anticipated more premium materials.
Along with its new platform, the Amarok will also be new underneath the bonnet where the current model’s Volkswagen made-and-produced engines will give way to units made by the Blue Oval at its Struandale Engine Plant in Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha, following last year’s R600-million investment.
Like the current Amarok, 2.0-litre sized turbodiesel engines, called Panther, will feature and produce 110kW/350Nm and 125kW/405Nm with a single turbo, and 155kW/500Nm with the inclusion of a second blower.
Reserved for markets mainly in Europe, the long since discontinued 2.0 TSI will finally make way for Ford’s 2.3 EcoBoost petrol expected to produce the same 200kW/420Nm as in the current North American Ranger.
At the top of the range, the much vaunted 3.0-litre turbodiesel V6, known internally as the Lion V6 and previously sold under the Powerstroke moniker in the F-150, will replace the current Amarok’s 190kW/580Nm 3.0 TDI V6 with outputs of 184kW/600Nm.
Unconfirmed reports though allege a possible power uptake in order to not only better that of the Volkswagen unit, which produced 200 kW on overboost, but also as a means of justifying the Amarok’s likely price increase over that of the Ranger.
On the transmission front, lower-end models will make do with a six-speed manual, while a revised version of the ten-speed automatic Ford had co-developed with General Motors, will replace the eight-speed Tiptronic as the self-shifting option.
As standard, the Amarok will be rear-wheel-drive with four-wheel-drive models offering a choice of two layouts; a part-time system with low range and a permanent setup similar to the current model.
While acknowledged as having been under investigation, the rumoured Amarok R won’t be heading for production following Ford’s decision in April not to grant Volkswagen access to the blueprints of the Ranger Raptor.
At the same time, electrification, poised to feature on the Ranger using the EcoBoost mill, won’t be carried over to the Amarok.
As is known by now, Amarok production will continue to take place at the General Pacheco plant in Argentina for South America, while core production moves from the Hanover Plant to Germany to Ford’s Silverton facility outside Pretoria as per Dearborn’s record R15.8-billion investment last year.
Despite Thursday’s world launch and commencing of production soon after, sales of the Amarok will only take place from the first quarter of 2023 and not the latter half of this year as previously reported.
“As Volkswagen South Africa, we are proud that the new Amarok will not only be built in our country, thus supporting the local economy,” Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Head, Sean Handley, said in a statement.
“At the end of the year, we will also welcome motoring journalists from around the world for the Amarok global media launch to be hosted in South Africa,”
The launch will be screened live on the Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge YouTube page and be viewed by clicking here.
