Fans of the first Amarok rejoice.
It will still be possible to purchase the all-Volkswagen original ute instead of the second-generation, Ford Ranger-based model released earlier this year.
But there’s a catch – you’ll need to move to a Latin American country like Argentina, where the old model remains in production to aid affordability in developing and/or price-sensitive markets.
VW Commercial Vehicle Head of Design, Albert-Johann Kirzinger, confirmed to CarsGuide at the Australian launch in Victoria that both the original and latest Amarok will co-exist as part of the German brand’s global portfolio of utes for the foreseeable future.
“Yes, the original Amarok will still be produced in Argentina,” he said. “It is an important model in markets where pricing is a crucial factor.”
The decision to not go with the Amarok II (which is built at a Ford plant in South Africa alongside European-bound versions of the Ranger) and stay with the original ute for parts of Latin America and elsewhere was made quite late in the newcomer’s gestation.
Mr Kirzinger would not reveal how long the old model will continue to be produced, but he expects it to last for a number of years yet.
So, why did VW need to pair up with Ford in the first place?
While it has surpassed 830,000 sales globally since launching in 2010, we understand that the original Amarok could not meet the early ambitious volume and profitability expectations required for a standalone successor to be developed, resulting in the tie-up with Ford.
It has been suggested that the original breakeven number of sales needed was closer to, or even above 100,000 annually, meaning that the first-gen model’s production figures to date would have been north of 1.2 million by now.
As a result, and as reported last year, the latest Amarok would not have happened without the Ranger.
That said, it is understood even the VW/Ford arrangement was met with resistance internally, as some factions within VW in Germany remained unconvinced that the company should continue to pursue the medium ute market as a result of the original Amarok’s sales numbers.
Along with the high quality of the T6 engineering, the union with Ford makes sense, as Australia is the home room for the Ranger as well as the biggest market for the first Amarok, which managed to shift about 88,000 units.
So, is there any chance VW may reintroduce the original Amarok in Australia?
“No, it can’t come back to Australia,” according to Volkswagen Group Australia Director of Commercial Vehicles, Ryan Davies.
“It’s now a homologation issue. We couldn’t re-homologate that car without substantial redevelopment.”
While VW declined to comment, it is believed that some of those issues include the lack of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and rear-passenger-compartment airbags, necessitating expensive re-engineering.
Along with the Ranger, the latest Amarok has scored a five-star crash-test rating from ANCAP.
Keyword: Old versus new! Original Volkswagen Amarok to continue on beyond 2023 alongside Ford Ranger-based second-generation model, but where can you buy it?