This is the all-new Volkswagen Amarok. Made with a lot of help from Ford.
Depending on how closely you’ve been paying attention to Volkswagen, you may or may not have heard of the Amarok. Well, the Amarok is the company’s only pick-up truck and it’s produced by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles for loads of foreign markets but was never brought in to Malaysia. Now the second generation Amarok has been shown. This time, Volkswagen decided to team up with the Ford Motor Company and so it shares some mechanicals with the all-new Ford Ranger.
The new Volkswagen Amarok was designed in Germany and Australia and will be built in South Africa. It will come to Australia, New Zealand, America, the Middle East and Europe. Perhaps part of the deal with Ford is to leave them Asia and the Americas.
Several very ‘Volkswagen’ cues help distinguish this pick-up truck from the Ranger but the most obvious are the IQ.Light LED headlights. There are a number of variants, including ‘Life’, ‘Style’, ‘Aventura’ and ‘PanAmericana’ and each brings a set of design features that are unique. Additionally, there will be four-door double cab and two-door single cab configurations to choose from.
One design feature carried forward from the previous Amarok are the wheel arch shapes. They are half-round and more circular than typically found on pick-up trucks in this class. Around back, the tailgate has ‘AMAROK’ script embossed onto the sheet metal. Rear tail lights are C-shaped and rear outward with body coloured inserts inside. Aventura and PanAmericana trims use LEDs for the taillights.
In terms of dimensions and proportions, the new Amarok is 96mm longer with a wheelbase increase of 173mm, shorter overhangs. The fording depth has been increased by 300mm to 800mm.
Inside, there’s an 8″ digital cockpit on lower end models and a 12″ digital cockpit on higher trim models. The portrait oriented infotainment system is 10″ on lower trim models and 12″ on higher trims. This layout was introduced on the new Ranger first. There are still physical buttons and rotary dials to control the Amarok’s functions. The Amarok uses a Harman Kardon sound system on certain trim levels. Leather upholstery is available as an option.
As for the cargo bed, the single cab version can be loaded with two pallets loaded sideways. There’s also a roll cover that is electrically operated. The roof can take 350kg if needed, meaning a four person tent can be deployed up there.
Other features will include 21″ alloy wheels, 18″ wheels for all-terrain tyres, trailer mounts, a bike holder for the cargo box, a multifunction carrier system, a manual roll cover and styling bars, including a bull bar, as well as underbody protection elements, eye rings, a snorkel and much more.
In terms of engine choices, there will be four diesels (TDI) and one petrol (TSI) engine on offer depending on the market. The TDI engines range from the 150PS 2.0L 4-cylinder turbo, 170PS 2.0L 4-cylinder turbo, 204/209PS 2.0L 4-cylinder biturbo, and a 241/250PS 3.0L V6 turbo. A 302PS 2.3L 4-cylinder petrol engine is also available in certain markets. Are these really TDI and TSI engines from Volkswagen or are they Ford engines that are also found on the Ranger? We’ll have to wait and see what they say.
For now the ‘TSI’ and ‘TDI’ branding appears on the new Amarok’s powertrain choices. Oh, it’s also worth mentioning the new Amarok also uses a 10-speed automatic, but this one doesn’t carry VW branding. It’s probably a Ford designed transmission as well. The all-wheel drive system does carry VW terminology. They refer to it as 4MOTION and it comes as standard on the Amarok but there are two different systems. One has permanent all-wheel drive while the other has selectable all-wheel drive. The Amarok’s towing capacity is 3.5 tonnes.
