Volkswagen has previewed the production styling of its new Amarok pick-up, which is due in 2022 and being jointly developed with Ford.
The two firms agreed a wide-ranging ‘global alliance’ in 2019 that will include commercial vehicles and electric cars. The next-generation Amarok will be the first model launched as a result of the initiative and is described by Volkswagen as “a major strategic step”.
The latest sketch of the new Amarok was shown as part of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ annual conference. It reveals that the machine is set to gain a bolder, more aggressive grille similar to that seen on the latest Touareg, while the boxy wheel arches recall the American Atlas SUV.
The new machine will be based on the platform used for the Ford Ranger pick-up and the reduced cost of doing so will be key to ensuring Volkswagen’s Commercial Vehicles arm can achieve the required economies of scale. Ford has invested nearly AUD$1.445 billion in preparing its Silverton, South Africa factory to build both models at a rate of 200,000 units per year.
The factory’s expansion will create 1200 new jobs at the site itself, and 10,000 new positions across the whole supply chain, according to Ford. The company aims to take the Silverton facility into ‘island mode’ by 2024, establishing a raft of efficiency-boosting measures with the aim of going completely ‘off-grid’.
The Ford and Volkswagen agreement will also include a VW van based on the Transit platform, to be built in Turkey, along with Ford electric cars on the VW Group’s MEB architecture entering production in 2023 in Germany.
James Attwood