How one of the most controversial HSVs was the springboard for local manufacturing resurgence in the post Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon era as Walkinshaw expands off the back of Volkswagen Amarok, Toyota Tundra and Ram 1500

Australian car manufacturing is now the biggest it has been since the departure of Ford, Holden, Toyota, and Mitsubishi, led by the big re-manufacturers like Premcar and Walkinshaw.

Ryan Walkinshaw explained how one particular controversial model served as the springboard for local re-manufacturing to kick-off in the post Ford and Holden era, which has now led to the original Amarok W580 and Premcar Warrior range, as well as local right-hand drive conversions of the Chevrolet Silverado, Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra.

Walkinshaw said the Colorado-based SportsCat ute upset a lot of traditional HSV customers because it didn’t have a V8 engine and wasn’t what they were used to.

"It was actually, from a volume perspective, one of our most successful vehicles we did in the entire history of HSV," he said.

"I believe that managed to prick the ears up of a lot of manufacturers saying, ‘Hey, you know, Walkinshaw isn’t just doing V8 engines and sedans anymore - they’re going into the off-road space’."

The HSV SportsCat was described by HSV as offering a “different kind of performance” to its previous V8-powered Commodores by offering overhauled suspension, a much more aggressive styling package, and improved on-road performance without forgoing the Colorado’s off-road chops.

“We managed to do a very very good job with that product. It was well received by customers and by [the media] and that’s what really pushed us into this sort of area, and it’s one of the main reasons Volkswagen ended up coming to speak to us,” said Walkinshaw.

The original Amarok W580 was a collaboration between VW and Walkinshaw toward the end of the first-generation Amarok’s life. The local re-manufacturing outfit took the turbo diesel 3.0-litre V6 version of the ute and re-calibrated the suspension as part of a significant ride and handling overhaul which also added wider tyres with an offset adjustment, unique alloy wheels, twin exhaust, a Walkinshaw-themed styling package, as well as all the usual high-end VW appointments.

The brand went on to add a more off-road focused W580X just before the original Amarok reached the end of its life in 2023.

As the project was part of a local send-off for the model, Walkinshaw explained that scarcity was one of its biggest downsides for potential buyers, something that starting earlier on the new version seeks to address.

“The response from customers across all variants was very positive, in fact I believe there were were a lot of people for the W580S who were upset there weren’t more in the market to be able to get their hands on one, so there were a lot of learnings for ourselves and Volkswagen, and you know, we can make sure we do the best job of delivering what everyone wants this time around,” he said.

With a longer lifespan for the new Amarok program, Walkinshaw said the brand could invest more and deliver on multiple variants.

Walkinshaw said the more programs the brand adds, the bigger the local re-manufacturing efforts can be as the firm continues to build on its success.

“From a Walkinshaw perspective having more programs helps us scale, helps us be more cost effective in the market. We’ve grown an enormous amount in the last couple of years and our customers keep throwing work at us. Every month we’ve got a new manufacturer speaking to us.”

Walkinshaw employs more than 1000 people locally and has re-manufactured more than 50,000 vehicles since 2018, but he was keen to re-iterate that no matter how big the performance engineering firm gets, it won’t compromise on the quality of its variants.

“We always want to make sure we’re doing the right product with the right brand, to make sure we don’t dilute what we’re able to deliver to the customers.

“We’ve gotta make sure it’s the right product to fit in with how we see ourselves at Walkinshaw," he said.