Booming customer deposits and ‘good’ supply levels for all-new Ford Ranger-based dual-cab ute to accelerate sales
The hotly-anticipated second-generation Volkswagen Amarok is a hot commodity even before its official release next week, with more than 2000 pre-orders and unprecedented interest for the all-new dual-cab ute ahead of its arrival.
During the national media launch of the new Amarok last week, Volkswagen Australia’s director of commercial vehicles, Ryan Davies said: “We’re expecting this car to sell more than any vehicle ever… in the commercial vehicle range.
“I think the highest we’ve ever sold of any [commercial] model is 9000-odd [annually]. We’d be certainly looking to eclipse that and that would make it the number one selling Volkswagen brand vehicle,” he explained.
Australia is the world’s biggest Amarok market and the Amarok was Volkswagen Australia’s top-selling model in 2021, when Golf sales dropped off a cliff due to supply. But supplies of the outgoing ute started dwindling in 2022, when sales of about 4500 were eclipsed by the VW T-Cross (5146), and Amarok sales are down more than 45 per cent so far in 2023 due to the model changeover.
While 9000-plus Amarok sales a year is a big number for Volkswagen, it’s only a small piece of the ute pie in Australia, which set a new record last year of 228,671 sales, dominated by the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger with a whopping 64,391 and 47,479 sales respectively.
The new VW Amarok is now on sale in Australia, with a range spanning five dual-cab variants and four engine options – V6 diesel, four-cylinder diesel and, for the first time, four-cylinder turbo-petrol – priced between $50,990 and $79,990 plus on-road costs.
Based on the same Australian-engineered T6.2 ladder frame as the Ford Ranger and co-developed alongside it Down Under by a team of VW engineers, the new Amarok brings a fresh design inside and out, along with different equipment levels and recalibrated suspension and steering.
As the vehicles roll into dealerships ahead of first Australian media reviews next week, Volkswagen says the MkII Amarok is off to a strong start and will be aided by a competitive capped price service program (see below).
Davies told carsales more than 2000 cash deposits have been placed by customers, in addition to around 13,000 expressions of interest from potential Aussie ute buyers.
“The orders are well into the thousands, in terms of customers putting deposits down,” he said, confirming a number approaching 2500.
Davies said the new Amarok had received a higher number of number of registrations of interest on its website than any other model previously in Australia.
“So it just goes to show that it’s pretty buoyant out there in terms of the pick-up segment… but I see our order intake increasing significantly in the coming weeks as people get to see touch and feel the car,” added Davies.
And while many auto brands are currently facing significant production, shipping and quarantine delays, with high demand pushing wait times for some core Ford Ranger variants out to two years, Volkswagen says it has a ready supply of Amarok utes coming out of Ford’s South African factory.
But that’s partly because Volkswagen was forced to delay the Amarok’s Aussie launch due to shipping issues resulting in “cars sitting on boats out in the ocean for weeks on end, because we just can’t get them off the wharf because they can’t dock,” said Davies.
“Supply is good. What we see in terms of production from the factory is good. We would envisage that we should be capable of selling approximately 8000 this year, and that’s only because that’s all we could get our hands on,” he said.
Davies added there is potential for increased vehicle deliveries next year and carsales understands Volkswagen is shooting for 10,000 units, which in 2022 would have placed it behind the HiLux, Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton and Isuzu D-MAX, but right behind the Mazda BT-50 and Nissan Navara.
It would also cement Australia’s position as the biggest and most important sales market for the Amarok.
“As a market, we’re quite persistent and annoying,” said VW’s local commercial vehicles boss.
“We are quite vocal when it comes to pushing [for more stock] and trying to get our pound of flesh, and I would say that we’re in a good position to be able to secure more if it becomes available.”
Although the Amarok has generally higher asking prices than the Ford Ranger, Volkswagen says higher equipment levels, more luxury and a different model range will help put it on plenty of shopping lists.
Today it also announced competitive capped-price service costs, with similar pricing to the Ranger for the first and second visits to the dealer, at $329 apiece.
A five-year care plan covers all costs for $1800, which works out to $360 per annum on average, and service intervals are identical to the Ranger’s at 15,000km or 12 months, whichever occurs first.
Also as per Ranger, the Amarok is covered by a five-year, unlimited-km warranty.
Stay tuned for our first Australian review of the new Volkswagen Amarok at 7:00pm next Thursday (May 11).
How much does the 2023 Volkswagen Amarok cost?
Core TDI405 – $50,990
Core TDI405 (a) – $52,990
Life TDI500 (a) – $56,990
Style TDI500 (a) – $66,990
Style TDI600 (a) – $70,990
PanAmericana TDI600 (a) – $75,990
Aventura TDI600 (a) – $79,990
Aventura TSI452 (a) – $79,990
* Prices do not include on-road costs
2023 Volkswagen Amarok capped-price service costs:
Service 1 – $329
Service 2 – $329
Service 3 – $414
Service 4 – $329
Service 5 – $400
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Keyword: New Volkswagen Amarok to smash sales records