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Volkswagen has revealed plans to introduce an all-electric version of its Amarok ute, possibly as soon as 2026.
Speaking at the recent Volkswagen Brand Day, where ID.Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo electric vans are all-but-confirmed for local sale, Volkswagen Australia commercial vehicles director Ryan Davies revealed the company has big plans for electric models. Volkswagen has announced that both the eAmarok and eCrafter are “in development” with plans to introduce them by the end of the decade.
Volkswagen announced last week at the international launch of the new generation Amarok – developed in collaboration with the Ford Ranger – that it is considering introducing an electrified version of the Amarok, with both plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) under review.
Read more about the Volkswagen Amarok
Ford is set to introduce a PHEV powertrain in the Ranger, with a battery pack capable of providing up to 100km of electric-only driving. It’s unclear if that’s a possibility for the Volkswagen version of the ute though, with the all-electric eAmarok now firmly on the agenda.
“With the PHEV and BEV option available on the platform, they decided that the BEV was their focus and the one they were most interested in,” Mr Davies said. “That was shared publicly at our headquarters that was the direction they were going, but it didn’t exist [production] further confirmation.”
Any electric version of the Amarok will be built with the Australian market in mind, as we’ve been critical of the German model’s viability thanks to our preference for powerful, dual-cab utes.
Mr Davies said Australia was the top market for the new model, both in terms of development priority (with more than 20 Volkswagen engineers and designers based in Australia to work with the Ford Australia team on the Ranger/Amarok program) and global sales.
“In the new generation, Australia will be the number one market,” Mr Davies said. “South America will continue with an iteration of the old generation Amarok, meaning they will no longer be the highest volume and Australia will be the highest volume market. Therefore, we speak strongly on how the Amarok is positioned in the future. This is why we have 20 plus designers and engineers here [in Australia], this is why we will have a strong influence on our production capacities going forward. We’re glad we got that position because it will give us the opportunity to steer the narrative a little bit more.
As a result, Mr Davies said he was confident an eAmarok would be a popular addition to the local line-up.
“I would say yes,” he said. “I think the opportunity here is huge for the eAmarok. It’s possible that what you’ll see is that maybe the Amarok is less popular in the markets around the world and with the presence of an eAmarok, it will stimulate more interest. It’s difficult to answer the question but I can say comfortably that we will have one of the top five markets for the eAmarok – if it comes.”
It’s too early for any significant speculation on the details for the new model, but Ford executives have previously clarified in Car Guide that the new Ranger platform is ‘future-proofed’ to take an all-electric powertrain during its expected 10-year lifecycle.
In terms of timing, Mr Davies said the eAmarok could arrive as soon as 2026. He suggested that as a possibility with the ID. Buzz models will be released in Australia in mid-2024 and the new Transporter and Caravelle, as well as an in-development T7 Multivan, will arrive in late ’24 or early ’25.
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