At the Volkswagen Group Annual Conference, where the financial results for the past year are announced — 2019 was a very good year in terms of profits for the German group —, in addition to the numbers, the future was also discussed, and in the future of the German brand there is a new Volkswagen Amarok.
Perhaps the main novelty in this second generation German pick-up is that it is a project developed in collaboration with Ford, which will also give rise to the successor of Ford Ranger, the current leader in the European market.
It is time to remember that this cooperation between the two car giants was announced over a year ago, where, among the various cooperation agreements established, there were two that stood out.
The first focuses on the development not only of the new Volkswagen Amarok and the Ford Ranger, but also of other commercial vehicles; the second involves handing over MEB — Volkswagen's dedicated electric vehicle platform — to Ford, to also develop at least one new electric vehicle, which will join the unveiled Mustang Mach-E.
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Most of the development and production responsibilities for the two pickups will fall on Ford's shoulders. with both going on sale in (and it seems) 2022.
The advantages of these synergies are obvious, in addition to the fact that it will be able to give access to the immense North American market, if the agreement established is the possibility of the new Volkswagen Amarok being produced locally — due to the North American chicken tax, the imported pick-ups are 25% taxed, nullifying the competitiveness against rivals produced locally.
Remember our test of the spectacular Ford Ranger Raptor:https://youtu.be/eFi4pnZBHSMIn commercial vehicles and pick-ups, this type of synergy is not uncommon, quite the contrary. In other words, expect the sharing not only of the entire platform and cinematic chain, but probably a substantial part of the bodywork, except for the front volume, which will have the identity of each of the brands.
The new Volkswagen Amarok, and based on the sketch revealed, promises an evolution of the already known visual themes of the current Amarok, as well as a better visual integration with other models, especially SUV, of the German brand.
However, we are still a long way from revealing the final model — 24 months or so. Will it stick to this sketch? We will have to wait for 2022…