Volkswagen Shares Details On Its New Amarok Truck

Volkswagen has offered a midsize truck in Europe for a long time. While most Volkswagen models are sold in the US, its truck has stayed out of the country. The next generation of the VW pickup, called the Amarok, is based on the Ford Ranger. The automaker is sharing some new details on the truck and its return to Europe in 2022 after it was discontinued last year.

As for why VW never brought the Amarok to the US, the pickup was seen as too expensive and premium for the States. That is a strange statement considering Americans spend vast sums of money on trucks pushing them well into luxury vehicle territory as far as pricing. The image above is a teaser rendering of the pickup shared by VW, and it looks very interesting.

There has been some speculation that Volkswagon might bring the pickup to the US market, but that is unclear. It would seem unlikely that Ford would want that sort of competition with its own Ranger. Details known for now include that the new Amarok will be a dual-cab design with the single-cab version available with the past generation not returning. It will use a body-on-frame architecture, and VW may offer several powertrain options.

Options would include common Ford parts, including a 2.3-liter turbo four-cylinder and possibly a 2.7-liter turbo V6. With the popularity of diesel engines outside of the US, you can bet VW will offer diesel power with the potential for both four and five-cylinder turbo-diesel engines.

The most powerful engine is expected to be an updated version of the 3.0-liter V6 TDI available in the old Amarok and other VW cars. Speculation suggests that the new Amarok will lose some of its premium nature in the transition to the Ranger platform, which could hurt sales, but only time will tell.