Second-generation Amarok teased

The collaboration between Ford and Volkswagen (VW) is about to bear fruit, with the German firm teasing with images of its Ford Rangerbased Amarok successor.

So far dubbed Amarok Mark II internally, the follow-up to VW’s one-tonner will be the first evidence of a collaboration that will also see Ford use VW’s MEB platform for its electric vehicle (EV) range.

How much of the new vehicle will be VW and how much will be Ford remains to be seen.

“Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has taken a major strategic step through its cooperation with Ford,” VW chief Herbert Diess said in a speech at the German carmaker’s annual media conference last week.

The alliance between the two car-making giants was signed in January 2019, with the fine print revealing the Gen II Amarok is likely to hit showrooms in 2022. The current Amarok has been around since 2010.

The road version won’t look much like the exaggerated sketch with its huge tyres, enormous wheel arch flares and long-travel suspension, but the profile is expected to retain a clear connection to the Atlas, VW’s large SUV.

VW plans to electrify most of its vehicles but the Amarok won’t be one of them, and the next-generation bakkie will stick with traditional internal combustion engines.

The current Amarok is available in SA in an all-turbo diesel line-up with a choice of 2.0l four-cylinder and 3.0 V6 engines. The flagship V6 TDI has outputs of 165kW and 550Nm, but a 190kW/580Nm version is being launched here in the third quarter of the year to become SA’s most powerful pickup.