Cut-price Volkswagen Amarok V6 manual due July

Volkswagen will offer a manual version of the V6 Amarok from as early July this year, the car-maker’s Australian arm says.

carsales has learned the Amarok V6 Sportline manual dual-cab will land in showrooms in the third quarter of 2019 with an official sticker price of $49,990 drive away – a $3000 saving on the current automatic Sportline equivalent.

Along with its six-speed manual transmission, the newcomer will add dual-range four-wheel drive to the Amarok V6 mix, thanks to installation of a low-range function. The automatic’s permanent all-wheel drive function currently offers an off-road mode and locking rear diff in the absence of a low-range setting.

Power figures from the V6 diesel are expected to remain unchanged at 180kW (165kW without overboost) and 550Nm.

“It’s the most affordable version of the V6 3.0-litre TDI engine ever,” says Volkswagen Australia spokesman Paul Pottinger.

The only V6 rival for the Volkswagen Amarok is the Mercedes-Benz X-Class V6, which touches down in Australia this month from $73,270 in auto-only guise.

“This would be an Australia only model. We’re not talking major volume for this variant, although ours is the world’s biggest Amarok V6 territory,” Volkswagen Australia commercial vehicles director Ryan Davies said.

“We know that a V6 manual would be well-received by the off-road community. The various grades of V6 combined comprise more than 80 per cent of Amaroks sold [in Australia],” he said.

At $49,990, the incoming VW manual matches the entry-level V6 Core automatic on price, though the latter goes without a heap of equipment.

Conversely, the manual V6 is expected to mirror the current Sportline Amarok specification, featuring as standard: 18-inch alloy wheels with a full-size spare, dual-zone climate control, a reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, and a 6.5-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Compared with the higher-specification Highline, the Sportline manual is set to omit its sports bar and side steps, tyre pressure monitoring, bi-xenon headlights and LED daytime running lights.

A carry-over 3.5-tonne towing capacity is anticipated, as are the current model’s four-wheel disc brakes. Meantime, the car’s official payload is set to exceed 1000kg thanks to the deletion of Highline equipment, and the fitment of a lighter manual transmission – handy, given there’s space between the rear wheel arches to fit a full-size pallet.

Asked whether the newcomer presented an opportunity to re-visit the Amarok’s safety credentials – specifically, the absence of rear curtain airbags  – Volkswagen Australia managing director Michael Bartsch said there was no immediate remedy.

“Rear air bags are not in the equation,” he said. “It would be a major engineering change and that’s not going to happen.

“There will be evolutions of the vehicle still, but rear curtain airbags won’t be a factor.”

Volkswagen will continue to offer the current generation of Amarok until around the end of 2021, at which point the car-maker will introduce a replacement co-developed alongside the Ford Ranger under a new alliance.

Volkswagen Australia says it will formalise an official landing time for the Amarok V6 manual Sportline closer to the dual-cab’s Australian arrival.