Volkswagen Amarok PanAmericana to serve as hero ute

Volkswagen has confirmed there will not be a factory-developed hero ute to crown its all-new 2023 Volkswagen Amarok line-up, instead nominating the high-spec PanAmericana as the off-road flagship.

But an Australian-developed super-ute with Volkswagen’s established local engineering partner, Walkinshaw Automotive, is anticipated as the German brand looks to overcome the setback of being denied access to an Amarok version of the incoming Ford Ranger Raptor.

This is despite the new Volkswagen Amarok being based on the Ford Ranger, which leaves VW to go it alone for a top-shelf Raptor rival.

And Volkswagen has already confirmed it will do things differently to the Blue Oval brand in Australia, such as offering the 222kW 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that isn’t available in Ranger here.

Positioned at the top of the Amarok tree alongside the urban-minded Aventura, the PanAmericana is the Volkswagen equivalent of the new Ford Ranger Wildtrak with a high spec and a big emphasis on off-roading.

Decked out with tough-looking black decals, bumpers, exterior trim and sports bars, the PanAmericana rolls on black 18-inch alloy wheels shod with aggressive Goodyear Wrangler all-terrain tyres.

But that’s as far as the extra off-road goodies go compared to the rest of the Amarok 4x4 range.

Undeterred, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles executives are confident the PanAmericana will be more than capable enough for most customers, with CEO Carsten Intra describing it as the “perfect off-road beast”.

“It was really a joy to make that [PanAmericana] because we have the basic lines; you know the workhorse and the style, but on the top we have that perfect off-road beast – it’s really cool,” he said.

Factor in the standard locking rear differential and a wealth of genuine accessories – including a snorkel – and the signs are promising for the new Amarok, especially going by our first drive of the new Ford Ranger Wildtrak.

There is an ace up the Amarok’s sleeve, however, because Volkswagen Group Australia has also confirmed the 222kW/452Nm 2.3-litre turbo-petrol engine will be available Down Under.

To be a key point of difference to Ranger, the force-fed four-pot petrol engine is expected to be offered only in the upper reaches of the Amarok range, meaning PanAmericana and Aventura are the likely recipients.

The same engine (in different states of tune) can be found under the bonnet of the current Ford Focus ST hot hatch and Ford Mustang High Performance.

That still falls short of the 292kW/583Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 found in the new Ranger Raptor, but provides a tantalising prospect for VW Australia to consider – along with the stock 184kW/600Nm 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 and the 154kW/500Nm biturbo-diesel four – when planning for a bona fide Ranger Raptor rival.

Speaking to carsales after the new Amarok’s global reveal, Volkswagen Australia’s corporate communications general manager Paul Pottinger said a continuation of the current Walkinshaw-Amarok engineering program – which has produced the Amarok W580X, among other iterations –  would be “desirable”.

Nothing’s locked in as yet, but Pottinger added that the partnership had yielded “meaningful enhancements” to the outgoing Amarok and that bringing Walkinshaw in closer to the ground level with the new-generation ute would likely yield a product even “more impressive still”.

Watch this space…

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