VW Amarok PHEV now looking unlikely

Despite the equivalent Ranger already being priced and inbound, the long-awaited VW Amarok PHEV’s future is now under a cloud as global VW executives struggle with its business case.

Speaking to carsales at the local media launch of the new-generation Multivan this week, VW Commercial Vehicles CEO Carsten Intra said investigations into the plug-in hybrid workhorse were ongoing but ultimately looking unlikely… at least until he came to Australia.

“We’re really investigating that, but it’s hard at present to make it a business case – as long as we have a business case we’re going to investigate,” he said.

“The problem is that the core markets for sure are South Africa, Europe and Australia – Australia would be desperately waiting is what I’ve learned actually, for hybrid.

“That would be the biggest volume actually and we have to discuss it.”

Whereas Ford desperately needs the Ranger PHEV – which will be offered here in four versions – to help combat NVES penalties and support its slow-selling but growing EV line-up, VW Group Australia is in a much better position with its more aggressive EV strategy.

Soon there will be more than half a dozen battery-electric models in VW Australia’s portfolio spanning the volume-selling medium SUV (x2), people-mover (x2) and commercial van segments (x2) and at least a couple of new plug-in hybrids to complement the flagship Tiguan R SUV.

Plug-in hybrid sales have more than quadrupled in the past two years or so – off a low base – as consumers warm to the best-of-both worlds dual-fuel technology and, until recently, took advantage of the federal government’s PHEV Fringe Tax Benefits exemption.

It will be interesting to see if sales slow somewhat now that initiative has ended, but we expect the halfway house powertrain option to continue growing as more and increasingly affordable models come to market.

The viciously priced BYD Shark 6 has certainly made a splash in the light commercial market – even if its capabilities can’t match the best diesel utes – and will undoubtedly elicit a response from legacy carmakers, though not to the same extent as NVES.

VW has already confirmed the emergence of an electric Amarok for the second half of the decade while a PHEV version has been under study for years now.

With the Ranger PHEV already done and being produced exclusively in South Africa – where the Amarok’s built – the stage is ultimately set for VW to follow suit and electrify the Amarok.

Company executives spoke this week about electrifying the entirety of its commercial line-up in the mid-term future and have no concerns about the volatile global EV market, describing the technology as “superior” and “the future”. It seems then the Amarok PHEV could be skipped entirely in favour of the electric version and its rumoured SUV counterpart – we’ll just have to see what PHEV sales do Down Under in the interim.

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