New Volkswagen Amarok won’t hide in Ford Ranger’s shadow

The second-generation Volkswagen Amarok remains on track for Australian release about six months after the long-awaited launch of the new Ford Ranger, and Volkswagen says it’s not concerned about the sizeable head-start for – or similarities with – its donor model.

The all-new Volkswagen Amarok will be revealed in production form on July 7 and Volkswagen Australia will launch an expressions of interest page on its public website shortly thereafter.

Speaking with carsales this week, Volkswagen’s Australian corporate communications manager Paul Pottinger was confident the MkII Amarok will arrive Down Under in January or February 2023.

His confidence stems partially from the fact the new Amarok will be produced in South Africa, a country that has so far escaped much of the manufacturing and supply issues slowing down the auto industry globally.

The release of the new Ford Ranger, which will again come to Australia from Thailand, has been pushed back several times due to parts supply problems in China.

“That timeline is looking solid at this point,” Pottinger said of the new Amarok’s early 2023 local ETA.

The original Amarok found more than 84,000 Aussie homes since its local launch in 2011 and outsold the supply-constrained Golf to become Volkswagen Group Australia’s best-seller for the first time in 2021.

The bigger, safer and more advanced new dual-cab 4x4 ute (single-cab and cab/chassis models are yet to be confirmed for Australia) will again be available with V6 and four-cylinder diesel engines – this time Ford-sourced.

Likewise, although it will wear unique interior and exterior designs, the new Amarok will share the Ranger’s Australian-developed T6 ladder frame and both safety and multimedia equipment.

Pottinger expects the new Amarok to remain VW’s top-selling model Down Under, and for Australia to leapfrog Argentina as the world’s biggest market for the second-gen ute, which was developed here alongside the new Ranger.

“Australia will be the biggest-selling Amarok market – not proportionally but numerically,” said Pottinger.

“When it’s fully on-sale here it will probably be the most important vehicle in the whole group of Volkswagen Group Australia brands in terms of what it represents and what it sells.

“No-one is trying to deny their similarity and the fact there is a collaboration. But the Ranger’s arrival doesn’t figure that strongly for us.

“Of course we’re aware of it, as we would be with a competitor from any other brand, but not to the point of distraction.”

As we’ve reported, Volkswagen is claiming its new hay-hauler will offer 30 driver-assist features and is expected to run a reskinned version of Ford’s SYNC4 operating system, via a huge 12-inch portrait-style infotainment touch-screen.

As per Ranger, a smaller 10.1-inch system will also be offered and joining the new multimedia system will be a fully digital instrument cluster, with both 8.0- and 12.4-inch displays set to be available.

Also like the Ranger, range-topping V6 versions are set to pump out a respectable 184kW and 600Nm from the Blue Oval’s 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6, supported by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol, both matched with Ford’s 10-speed automatic transmission. But there won’t be a Raptor version powered by a twin-turbo petrol V6.

And while base Ranger XL grades will bring payloads ranging between 958kg (Double Cab 4x2) and 1327kg (Single Cab Chassis 4x4), Volkswagen says the Amarok’s payload will increase to 1200kg and towing capacity will remain at the benchmark 3500kg.

In terms of safety, the new Amarok will gain full-length side curtain airbags, a centre airbag, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and a more sophisticated autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system.

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