A Chinese ute will form the basis of a new Volkswagen Amarok due in 2027, but it is for South America, not Australia.
Volkswagen has confirmed plans for a new-generation Amarok ute engineered exclusively for South America – due in 2027 – intended to replace the original model on sale there for 15 years.
But it is not an entirely in-house design, and rather will be engineered in conjunction with Chinese car giant SAIC, the parent company of MG and LDV, according to South American reports.
Australia will continue with the Ford Ranger-based Amarok that has been in showrooms for the past two years, which will continue to be produced in a Ford factory in South Africa.
A teaser sketch of the new Amarok released by Volkswagen bears similarities to the new LDV Terron 9 and MG U9 utes, with similar boxy bodywork, window pillars and wheel arches matched with a VW-specific front end.
It will be built at Volkswagen’s Pacheco, Argentina factory, which continues to produce the first-generation Amarok – facelifted again for South America – years after the Ford-based model was launched overseas.
Reports indicate Volkswagen elected to keep the original Amarok in production, as switching to the second generation would require Ford to build it, lowering the output of the VW plant to a level no longer sustainable to keep its doors open.
The German car giant has previously said the second-generation Amarok would not be possible without Ford – and being able to share costs – so it appears it has selected a new partner in SAIC for the same reason.
An investment of $US580 million into the Pacheco factory was announced to support the new ute, which is due in 2027.
It will be “developed, designed and produced in South America, for South America,” and is part of a new strategy to build “market-specific” models for different regions, VW said in a media release.
It remains to be seen how different it will actually be from its SAIC cousin, and if Volkswagen will go to the same lengths to set its ute apart as it did with the Ford Ranger-based Amarok.
The latest announcement casts doubt on the future of the Amarok on sale in Australia beyond the current generation.
There is now no incentive to produce a new model that can be sold in Australia and South America, so any next-generation version would need to have the same scope as today’s Ford-based version.
Ford’s next-generation Ranger due at the end of the decade is set to be closely related to the next F-150, which may make it harder for Volkswagen to join the project.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
