New Volkswagen Amarok 'not a Nissan and Mercedes mistake'

Volkswagen Australia promises the forthcoming new-generation Volkswagen Amarok will have “clear and genuine differentiation” from the Ford Ranger upon which it will be based, and not simply be a rebadged ute.

In a briefing to media in Sydney, Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Michael Bartsch declared the 2022 Volkswagen Amarok “will not be the same mistake that Mercedes-Benz and Nissan made” – a reference to the ill-fated platform-sharing exercise between the German and Japanese car-makers which has seen the Mercedes-Benz X-Class discontinued after just one generation.

Ford is the lead technical partner in the new alliance that will spawn the next-generation Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok, with both manufacturers set to release their respective offerings around 2022.

Both vehicles also have the added bonus of being developed in Australia at the Blue Oval brand’s Melbourne-based Asia Pacific Product Development Centre.

Bartsch reiterated this week that Volkswagen was not simply a silent partner in the tie-up, but an integral part of the development process – and that the Australian arm of the German brand has had its voice heard.

“The short story is that it will not be the same mistake that Mercedes-Benz and Nissan made,” he said.

“When the initial project was launched in this co-operation between Ford and Volkswagen, there were some discussions in the infant stage of the project.

“We made it very clear what the consumer expectations in Australia would be in terms of ensuring the product was a Volkswagen and the product was a Ford – that there was clear and genuine differentiation between the two beyond the bad old days of ‘badge engineering’.

“It was in the brief that we’re entrusting the move-forward strategy of the product. Like any new model, it’s outside of the ambit of the market to have the inside detail but we were drawn on, and since we are the second-largest Amarok market in the world, it’s critical that it’s successful here.

“We move forward with full confidence that there will be a Ford product and there will be a Volkswagen product.”

The second-generation Volkswagen Amarok will borrow powertrains from the next Ranger ute, which means the current Amarok’s four- and six-cylinder diesel engines will be swapped for Ford powerplants – tipped to be the existing 2.0-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder and a new 3.0-litre V6.

Expect the 2022 Volkswagen Amarok to retain the 3500kg towing capacity offered by the current model and the existing Ranger, especially given the torquey turbo-diesel engines it will inherit from Ford. They will be matched to six-speed manual and 10-speed automatic transmissions from Ford.

VW’s new Ford-based ute may also get the petrol V6 and petrol-electric hybrid powertrains reportedly being developed for the next Ranger by Ford, at least in the US market.

So committed to the project is Volkswagen, it claims to have moved more than a dozen German designers to Melbourne 18 months ago to understand the demands of the Australian market and implement their own input into the development process.

Volkswagen Australia commercial vehicles director Ryan Davies explained that the full extent of Volkswagen’s input into the project remained top-secret.

“Ford are the lead partner so in terms of what we can steer comes down to the elements within our control. We’re not going to be able to give a full summary of the specs of the car at this point in time. It’s more than just design involvement. We’re an integrated partner in this process,” he said.

Asked whether the Amarok would emulate recent vehicles like the Mazda BT-50/Isuzu D-MAX tie-up, in which all the mechanical components and their tuning are identical, Davies said: “We’re not at that level of detail of understanding yet. What detail our colleagues will have on that process is not yet known.”

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