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New Volkswagen Amarok will solely be made in South Africa
Initial confusion surrounding two plants being earmarked for production has been resolved in favour exclusively of Ford's Silverton facility.
Ford’s Silverton Plant will serve as the sole production facility for the new Amarok.
Amidst conflicting reports pertaining to the production facility of the all-new Volkswagen Amarok, Wolfsburg’s President for Latin America has set the record straight by confirming Ford’s Silverton Plant outside Pretoria as the sole factory tasked with assembling the newcomer.
The apparent confusion comes on the back of Volkswagen’s $250-million investment into its General Pacheco Plant in Argentina for production not only of the Taos SUV, but surprisingly also the Amarok instead of the much disputed on-again, off-again half-ton Tarok forecasted to replace the dated Saveiro.
According to a statement uncovered by motor1.com Argentina, Pablo Di Si remarked that part of the investment will go towards restyling the first generation Amarok in 2024 that will remain in production at said plant for the foreseeable future.
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“The redesign has already been defined and I can tell you that it is very balanced: neither very aggressive nor not very aggressive,” a translated version of the statement of the read.
Additionally, Di Si stated that the new Amarok, based on the same T6.2 platform as the new Ford Ranger, Everest, Ranger Raptor, Bronco and Bronco Raptor won’t be sold in Latin America at all or produced as a result of the joint venture between the Blue Oval and Volkswagen signed three years ago.
Until now, two facilities were assigned Amarok production; General Pacheco, where, ironically, South Africa-bound models came from, and the Hannover Commercial Vehicle factory in Germany that catered prominently for Europe.
“For the moment, we are not going to bring the new generation Amarok manufactured in South Africa [to Argentina]. The agreement with Ford to produce the new generation of the Amarok in South Africa is part of a global agreement that covers light commercial and electric vehicles,” the statement continued.
“In the case of Argentina, the project [didn’t get approval of both parties]. The agreement with Ford is going very well, but [Volkswagen Argentina] has decided to go different route”.
While set to go on-sale in Latin America next year, the second generation Amarok will make landfall in South Africa towards the end of this year as one of only three initial countries to receive it, the others being Austria and Luxembourg. Expect final specification and price in due course.
