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Long delayed EcoBoost powered Amarok will join the Toyota Hilux 2.7 as the only other mainstream petrol bakkie in South Africa.
As in Australia, the petrol Amarok bound for South Africa will likely only be offered in depicted Aventura spec. Image: Volkswagen
Volkswagen’s on-again, off-again petrol-engine Amarok has finally been given approval for South Africa from the fourth quarter of this year.
Prolonged delayed
Supposed to have made landfall in the second quarter of last year, the petrol, which uses the same 2.3 EcoBoost engine as the North American-spec Ford Ranger, went on permanent hiatus for reasons not divulged.
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At the time, a Volkswagen Group Africa spokesperson told CAR Magazine, “we have decided to put this engine on hold. We believe the current variants of our existing engines are suitable for our market.”
According to the latest report by the publication, the colloquially known 222 kW Amarok, which, as recently as Wolfsburg’s local annual product Indaba in February, still received the thumbs down, will now debut in the mentioned quarter as an alternative to the 3.0-litre Lion V6 turbodiesel.
What to expect?
Besides specialist bakkies such as the Ford Ranger Raptor, Jeep Gladiator and Toyota Land Cruiser 79, it will effectively become the only other mainstream petrol bakkie in South Africa along with the Toyota Hilux 2.7.
A smash-hit success in Australia, despite only one variant being available in flagship Aventura guise, the officially titled Amarok TSI 452 – made alongside the Ranger at the Silverton Plant outside Pretoria and nowhere else – produces 222 kW, an uptake of 22 kW on the Stateside Ranger, and, as per its nomenclature, 452 Nm of torque.
As with the V6, power is routed to all four wheels through the Ford and General Motors co-developed 10-speed automatic gearbox.
Supposed price
The most powerful but unsurprisingly least torquiest Amarok Down Under, the TSI 452 retails from $79 900, which, without the various taxes included, amounts to a directly converted R933 919.
A $3 000 (R35 065) credit over the comparative V6 Aventura, the petrol could potentially adopt the same line-up structure by being positioned between it and the more off-road focused PanAmericana.
At present, the former starts at R1 252,600 and the latter at R1 190,900, suggesting the petrol as possibly retailing from around R1.2-million.
For the moment, this is purely speculative and while final specification will most likely be identical to the V6, expect a clearer picture to only emerge closer to its eventual market reveal.
Additional information from carexpert.com.au.
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