Volkswagen Amarok News

Here are the popular models no longer available in Australia that are living an extended or second life elsewhere.

Volkswagen’s Amarok being twinned - underneath at least - with the Ford Ranger opens the door to another potential model for Volkswagen, but even though the brand never built an SUV cousin to the Ford Everest, VW’s design team explored the idea.

Volkswagen has confirmed pricing and spec for 2024 versions of its new-generation Amarok, locking in drive-away pricing for the remaining 2023 stock it has on hand.Until the end of March, Volkswagen has locked drive-away pricing for its Amarok range from $54,990 for the base Core, $58,990 for the mid-grade Life, and $68,990 for the high-spec Style. Meanwhile, Style models equipped with the more powerful ‘TDI600’ 3.0-litre diesel V6 powertrain have their drive-away prices locked at $72,990.Volkswagen says this equates to an approximate $5000 reduction to the usual drive-away pricing depending on the state in which the ute is sold, and in addition a $1800 service pack covering the first five years is included on all MY23 utes.The top-spec PanAmericana and Aventura grades are exempted from this pricing as the brand wrestles with low supply and high demand for these variants. It also says the Style V6 is currently the most popular variant, with over half of all customers opting for the powerful high-grade version.“More than half of all Amarok customers want the Style TDI600 for its blend of toughness, technology and premium value,” Volkswagen’s Commercial Vehicle director, Ryan Davies said, adding: “While we continue to work on meeting demand for the flagship PanAmericana and Aventura, the ability to deliver an even greater number of Styles with the V6 diesel engine is significant as we start the new year.”2024 versions of the Amarok will feature a brake controller as standard to go with the existing standard tow bar with a 3500kg braked towing capacity, alongside blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert being added to the base Core TDI405’s safety suite.Pricing for the MY24 models has increased by $2500 for the Core and Life models, with an increase of $2750 for the Style, and $3000 for the PanAmericana and Adventura grades (see pricing table below).The Amarok continues to be offered with four powertrain options, a base 2.0-litre turbo diesel (TDI405) producing 125kW/405Nm, a mid-spec uprated 2.0-litre turbo diesel (TDI500) producing 154kW/500Nm, a 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 (TDI600) producing 184kW/600Nm, and a 2.3-litre turbo petrol engine (TSI452) exclusive to the top-spec Adventura grade producing 222kW/452Nm.Off the back of this new second-generation version, the Amarok’s market share rose to the end of 2023 to 6625 units or 3.2 per cent of the 4x4 ute market, an increase of 64.8 per cent over its 2022 numbers. It is closing in on the declining market share of the ageing Nissan Navara, which accounted for 7510 units last year, or 3.6 per cent of the market, having declined 15 per cent year-on-year.However, it faces increasingly tough competition in the ute space, particularly from the related and segment-leading Ford Ranger, as well as the next-generation Mitsubishi Triton which is set to arrive in Australia imminently.2024 Volkswagen Amarok price 

Following its Australian launch in May this year the Amarok 4x4 has proved a popular addition to Volkswagen's local line-up with year-on-year sales for the premium dual cab ute up no less than 43 per cent to the end of October.

There are quite a few great off-roaders available as standard that could handle a rough bush trip even if you were to drive them directly out of the showroom and into the bush after purchase – think the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series, the Land Rover Defender or even something as fun and as impractical as the Suzuki Jimny.

They may not be as prolific in the inner city, but head to somewhere like New South Wales’ Central West region or Far North Queensland and you’ll get it - big utes have officially arrived.

Dual-cab ute accessories are big business in Australia with a majority of 4x4 ute owners looking to customise their ‘rig’ in some way and, while a number of manufacturers continue to add variants within their model families that bring a custom appearance, there’s still a significant audience that would prefer to start with a blank canvas and do the job themselves.

Is a Volkswagen SUV 4x4 based on the Ford Everest coming or not? It might end up depending on where you live in the world. Asking VW to clear up the confusion seems to be no help, as we’ve had conflicting answers to the state of play for a wagon version of the Amarok dual-cab ute.

Fans of the first Amarok rejoice. It will still be possible to purchase the all-VW original ute instead of the second-generation Ford Ranger-based model. 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.

I won’t bore you with the now very familiar numbers, but take it as read that for every 100 people that walk into a new-car showroom in Australia and sign on the dotted line, around 15 of them will drive out in a dual-cab ute.