Volkswagen still coy on Amarok PHEV, EV ute

2 weeks ago 7

The caller Volkswagen Amarok has rapidly go 1 of the brand’s top-selling vehicles successful Australia, but we’re inactive nary person to confirming erstwhile we mightiness spot an electrified version.

While commercialized conveyance spouse Ford has locked successful a Ranger Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) for a 2025 income motorboat successful Australia, the related Amarok is inactive to person a plug-in hybrid oregon artillery electrical mentation confirmed for production, despite rumours circulating a twelvemonth oregon truthful ago.

“We don’t truly person thing to accidental connected that peculiar topic,” Nathan Johnson, caput of selling and merchandise for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Australia told CarExpert this week.

“We are exploring with the mill ‘what’s next?’, but we don’t person thing factual to denote astatine this stage.”

General manager for VW Group Australia communications, Paul Pottinger, added with the Albanese Government’s New Vehicle Emissions Standards (NVES) looming, the German marque isn’t successful the aforesaid vessel arsenic immoderate rival brands with high-emitting dual-cab utes.

“While internally Commercial Vehicles and Passenger Vehicles mightiness beryllium abstracted entities, wide successful the NVES our emissions figures are judged arsenic a azygous brand,” Mr Pottinger told CarExpert.

“So, Amarok could beryllium much than ameliorated by different models successful the broader portfolio. I deliberation it’s going to beryllium a overmuch bigger conflict for brands with little diverseness [in their merchandise portfolios].”

Volkswagen volition participate 2025 with the ID.4 and ID.5 electrical SUVs, arsenic good arsenic the ID. Buzz scope of electrical radical movers and commercialized vans. The marque has been candid astir beardown measurement aspirations peculiarly for the ID.4, which nary uncertainty volition play a portion successful greatly reducing its fleet CO2 mean erstwhile NVES comes into effect.

Rival dual-cab ute makers similar Toyota, Ford, Isuzu and Mitsubishi with a precocious ratio of diesel income comparative to the wider portfolio and a debased premix of zero- and low-emissions products possibly aren’t arsenic good placed for the caller regulations.

It’s not the archetypal clip the thought of an electrified Amarok has been thrown around. Autocar reported successful January 2023 that VW had plans for an electrical off-roader based connected the Ford Ranger and Amarok’s T6 platform.

Ford’s T6 architecture – which besides underpins the Everest and Bronco – has been confirmed to enactment some plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electrical (EV) powertrains, meaning there’s scope for adjacent further electrification than the Ranger Plug-in Hybrid successful the adjacent 12 months.

One crushed we’re inactive waiting could beryllium due to the fact that Volkswagen has reportedly been told specified a exemplary would besides necessitate astatine slightest a 110kWh artillery to present the towing capableness and scope expected of an electrical off-roader.

Volkswagen has antecedently confirmed it’s working with Ford connected electrifying the T6 platform, with an electrical Amarok understood to beryllium successful improvement for launch sometime astir 2026. It’s besides weighing a plug-in hybrid, which makes consciousness erstwhile Ford fundamentally has the drivetrain acceptable for production.

Further to the electrification discussion, Mr Johnson told CarExpert it was lone a substance of clip earlier Australian-delivered versions of the Amarok moved to cleaner and much businesslike Euro 6-certified drivetrains.

“The Euro 6 motor volition go disposable to america astatine a stage. It’s already being utilized successful immoderate European markets due to the fact that of their strict emissions standard,” Mr Johnson said.

When asked if Euro 6 diesel engines with AdBlue posed challenges with customers and dealers astir acquisition and maintenance, Mr Johnson said: “I don’t deliberation it’s going to beryllium situation for america due to the fact that I deliberation everyone other is moving that mode arsenic well”.

“I don’t deliberation there’s a batch of acquisition that needs to beryllium done from our erstwhile model” – noting the previous-generation Amarok’s impermanent tally of EU6 V6 models sourced from Europe.

Euro 6 diesels with AdBlue injection are inactive reasonably uncommon successful the Australian market, with prime versions of the Ford Ranger arsenic good arsenic the Mitsubishi Triton offering the cleaner engines with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).

As of April 30 2024 the Amarok is Volkswagen’s top-selling conveyance successful Australia, with 3003 units registered twelvemonth to day (YTD) – marking important 270.7 per cent maturation connected the aforesaid January-April play successful 2023.

That sees the 4×4-only Amarok pb the smaller VW T-Roc (2481 units) and Tiguan Allspace (1640 units) successful the moving income standings wrong the VW marque portfolio.

Despite its expanding popularity amongst Australian buyers, the Amarok inactive trails good down its Ford Ranger level mate, which with 4×4 income unsocial outsells the VW by much than six to 1 (19,329 v 3003).

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles says the in-demand Aventura and PanAmericana variants stay proviso constrained, which relationship for 14 per cent and 9.0. percent of the full income premix respectively. The Style remains the astir fashionable trim level with 54 per cent share.