- VW constructed a seven-seat, body-on-frame SUV prototype primarily based on the first-generation Amarok.
- It revisited the thought with sketches of a rugged SUV derived from the second-generation pickup truck.
- VW confirms a third-generation Amarok is coming and an SUV sibling is into consideration.
It’s nonetheless baffling that the unique Amarok by no means obtained the SUV therapy, because the pickup’s body-on-frame platform appeared to beg for a Ford Everest rival. Because it seems, Volkswagen did construct one behind closed doorways however in the end determined to maintain it to itself. Identified internally as an “Amarok wagon,” the SUV model of the truck was left on the proverbial chopping room ground after failing to achieve approval from the corporate’s higher-ups.
The fascinating disclosure got here from VW Industrial Automobiles boss Stefan Mecha in an interview with Australian journal GoAuto. Whereas the underpinnings for a “closed pickup” have been available, it by no means received the inexperienced mild as a result of the corporate was involved it wouldn’t promote effectively sufficient. Though inside projections confirmed it might’ve made sense in Australia, a single market wasn’t sufficient to make the challenge viable from a scalability perspective.
Regardless of these roadblocks, some folks inside VW have by no means actually given up on the thought of turning the Amarok into an SUV. A few years in the past, Albert Kirzinger, Head of Design at Volkswagen Industrial Automobiles, took to LinkedIn to share a sketch of a second-generation Amarok with a totally enclosed rear part. Nevertheless, the newer pickup relies on the Ranger, and the tie-up between VW and Ford by no means included an SUV spinoff to tackle the Blue Oval’s personal Everest.
Second-generation Volkswagen Amarok-based SUV official rendering
Wanting forward, VW has already confirmed plans for a third-generation Amarok. Though Mecha admitted there are ongoing discussions with Ford about one other collaboration, he mentioned the corporate is protecting its choices open. The present truck nonetheless has two to a few years left, that means its substitute is unlikely to reach till across the flip of the last decade. As soon as once more, an SUV spinoff isn’t fully out of the query, however no ultimate determination has been made.
As a refresher, the Industrial Automobiles division of the German automotive conglomerate has already introduced plans to crew up with China’s SAIC to replace the original Amarok. Now 17 years outdated, the first-generation workhorse stays on sale in South America and shall be changed in 2027 by a brand new truck with Chinese language underpinnings. Which means VW will proceed to supply two Amarok variants tailor-made to totally different areas of the world.
Even with out an Amarok-based SUV, the VW Group will nonetheless cater to the off-road SUV crowd with the Scout Traveler. It can enter manufacturing in 2027 with a beginning worth of below $60,000 and shall be provided as a pure EV with round 350 miles of vary. A variety-extender model, that includes a naturally aspirated gas engine that serves as a generator, will ship greater than 500 miles of vary. Each variations shall be assembled at a wholly new plant in Blythewood, South Carolina.
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Supply: Scout Motors
Motor1’s Take: VW’s reluctance to show the Amarok into an SUV has at all times felt like a missed alternative. Higher late than by no means, maybe the third-generation truck will lastly get a closed-body model to capitalize on the off-road SUV increase. It ought to’ve occurred years in the past, but it surely by no means did, leaving cash on the desk.
That mentioned, occasions are powerful on the VW Group because it appears to be like to cut its model lineup in half to cut back prices dramatically. Given the corporate’s present monetary challenges, we wouldn’t get our hopes up too excessive for an Amarok SUV, particularly because the Scout Traveler is about to fill that area of interest.
