Volkswagen Amarok 2011 News

US owners of VW cars with diesel engines that can cheat emissions tests have already been given $500, but local owners still have no compensation.

Three weeks after the global scandal broke, Australian owners of VW diesel cars finally know if their car is affected or not.

This sporty version of Volkswagen’s Amarok ute is strictly a concept, though it confirms the German carmaker has recognized the all around awesomeness of performance utes and is at least toying with the idea of building one of its own.The new concept is called the Amarok R-Style and was revealed at the 2013 Wörthersee Tour tuning event taking place in Austria, the same event where a hardcore VW GTI concept and lightweight Audi TT were also shown.It features 22-inch alloy wheels, lowered springs and a wide-body kit. There are also plenty of carbon fibre accents and a chunky sports bar running across the back of the cab.The headlights have also been dressed up with LEDs and the interior given a sporty look with a bespoke dash and centre console and carbon fibre detailing.Power in this Amarok R-Style pickup comes from a 200kW/600Nm 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel, replacing the production model’s 2.0 litre four. This, says VW, is enough for 0-100km/h acceleration of less than eight seconds.For more from the 2013 Wörthersee Tour, take a look at our gallery of the weirdest and most wonderful.www.motorauthority.com 

...the first one-tonne class ute developed in Germany.Production of the fourth model series of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand will begin very soon at the “Pacheco” plant in Buenos Aires, Argentina.The Amarok – at 5.25m long – is a beefy as its Australian competition with flared wheel arches, thick roll bar and squat, ready stance.Volkswagen has chosen two high-tech turbo diesel engines to power the Amrok, which will arrive first as a four door version in late 2010, with a single cab coming later in 2011.The four door will be powered by a 2.0l TDI with common rail injection that will put out 120kW and 400 Nm at 1500rpm, while the second will be a smaller 90kW TDI with 340Nm at 2000rpm.Safety features will include four airbags, ESP, ASR, and ABS.

The all-new Amarok has the potential to out-sell the Golf down under as the German brand decides to get serious about ending the global domination of Japanese utes led by the Toyota HiLux.Volkswagen's first ute has been designed in Europe but was always planned for a worldwide sales push with production set for a low-cost base outside Buenos Aires in Argentina."How important is the Amarok? It's very important," says Karl Gehling, spokesman for Volkswagen Group Australia."The size of the pickup market in Australia is very big and it's a great opportunity to expand into a new segment."The Amarok - its name means wolf in the Inuit language used in Canada and Greenland - will reach Australia in the second half of next year as left-hand drive production begins around March 2010 with right- drive utes to follow later."We will be one of the first to get it. The roll-out starts with South American, then Russia and Europe, then Africa and Australia," says Gehling."There will be a double-cab and a single-cab version. The single cab will be a cab-chassis and it won't have an integrated tray."The Amarok will have two turbodiesel engines, the lower-powered being a 90kW/340Nm 2.0-litre and the higher a 120kW/400Nm common-rail injected 2.0-litre.Volkswagen is confident the Amarok will sell well in Australia and has the potential to trump the Golf in showrooms."It certainly does. But it's all about potential. It will be a mainstream model for us," Gehling says."What makes it very interesting is that it is the first European pickup to compete in that market and it will bring Volkswagen's strengths to the market. Watch out."

Local VW Australia executives managed to convince Germany to build a cab-chassis version of its new 1 tonne Robust pickup when development work started.VW Australian director of commercial vehicles, Phil Clark, says unlike Asia, a cab-chassis variant was critical for our market."We've done a lot of driving of that to make sure we stay true to our market," he says."A lot of the other countries don't run cab-chassis," he says."But South Africa and ourselves are strong on cab-chassis, which some of the other markets don't need."Clark says Australia "is a bit quirky like that".The Robust debuted at last week's Melbourne Motor Show decked out in search and rescue livery.However, it is likely to undergo a name change before it goes on sale here late next year after its South American launch later this year.Clark says 95 per cent of the Melbourne show car will make it into production."What you see here is largely how the car will look," he says.Clark believes the big pickup presents a big opportunity in a segment VW has never contested locally.The Robust will sit above the Transporter and go into battle against popular Japanese competitors.The bush-bashing VW will take aim at same market segment as the Toyota HiLux and Nissan Navara."We wouldn't have gone into it if we weren't going to be fully market competitive," Clark says."We're deadly serious about it."Clark says the pickup market is the biggest single market in the country "bar none"."And then you drill that down into share and there is opportunity."VW's commercial vehicle share is between 4000 or 5000 units now."The pickup market last year was about 200,000 vehicles so to get a share of that would be great."The workhorse will draw on VW's strengths in common-rail turbo-diesel technology and its 4motion all-wheel drive system.A petrol engine will also be available.Clark says fuel efficiency and low emissions will be paramount.Apart from a cab-chassis model, the pickup will be available as a four-door dual-cab with both all-wheel drive and two-wheel drive."We will be the only Europeans in the market," Clark says.He has already driven a prototype in Germany and says it is more than a match for the Japanese.VW is aiming for global sales of 100,000 a year.Clark says the pickup's biggest potential locally is in the 4x4 dual cab segment."It's our biggest segment at the moment," he says.Full pricing and specification details will be revealed closer its on sale date.