Have you ever asked yourself what if Volkswagen built a pickup? Well you might know they already do, it’s the sporting and edgy Volkswagen Amarok. It’s just not sold in North America.
The Volkswagen Amarok is available to buyers in South and Central America, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Europe and a handful of other markets around the world.
In these places it competes with the Toyota Hi-Lux which is similar to the Tacoma in size, Ford Ranger also not sold here, as well as the global version of the upcoming 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups.
The Amarok is plenty handsome, with Volkswagen’s trademark Germanic style in a pickup truck package. When modded out with larger wheels and tires like this one we spotted at a show this week, it really has a mean aggressive look.
Inside, it’s the Volkswagen of pickups with a top notch interior in design and trim levels. It obviously starts out basic but goes well up into the high equipment levels we know and expect in a Golf or Passat.
Engines start with a 2.0 liter turbo-charged gasoline four cylinder. Then there are two versions of a 2.0 liter turbo-diesel starting with a base 2.0 liter TDI offers up 138 horsepower and 250 lb-ft or torque. A higher torque twin-turbo TDI is available with 310 lb-ft of torque to go with its 177 horsepower.
There’s a variety of transmissions including an 8-speed automatic coming in rear-wheel drive, shiftable four-wheel drive as well as permanent all-wheel drive.
The Volkswagen Amarok by the way is a real truck, not a crossover spin-off of any kind. It has a ladder frame with a front-engine rear-wheel drive layout.
Volkswagen says it’s studied bringing the Amarok to the U.S. but currently doesn’t see a business case for it. I can tell you though from seeing it with my own eyes, the Amarok a nice truck that would go on my I’d Buy It list in a heartbeat.
For more news and test drives of diesel cars, SUV’s and trucks see our partner channel DieselDig.com.
