Next Volkswagen Amarok to get Ford V6 power

When the next-generation 2023 Volkswagen Amarok breaks cover, it’ll continue to be offered with a six-cylinder engine – but it won’t be a VW Group diesel V6 anymore.

As the German brand readies the Aussie Walkinshaw Group-developed 2021 Volkswagen Amarok W580 sports ute based on the current model, the 200kW/580Nm V6 engine that powers it will almost certainly be swapped out for a Ford engine when the second-generation Amarok arrives here in 2023.

While Volkswagen is yet to announce official details beyond “it’s coming” and “it’ll be awesome”, carsales understands the new-gen Amarok is set to be powered by a turbo-diesel V6 supplied by Ford, most likely the Blue Oval brand’s 3.0-litre Power Stroke V6.

In the new Ford F-150 that engine produces 186kW of power at 3250rpm and 597Nm of torque at 1750rpm, but it may be fettled to suit the requirements of Volkswagen – and Ford, with the incoming T7 Ford Ranger.

Volkswagen Australia wouldn’t officially confirm whether the next Amarok will get Ford’s oil-burning V6, which will also underpin top-spec model grades of the new Ford Ranger (set to arrive Down Under late 2021 or early 2022), supplying a “no comment” response.

But carsales understands it’s locked in.

Nick Reid, Volkswagen Australia’s commercial vehicle product manager, said: “Whatever engine it ends up with it’ll be awesome, but we can’t really comment on that right now.”

When asked if the company hoped to continue offering a V6 engine, one of the key differentiators for Amarok at present, Reid was more forthcoming.

“Absolutely, yeah. It’s been a huge success for this model since we launched the V6 at the end of 2016, so [the V6] it’s hugely important to us,” he said.

Australia is the world’s largest market for the V6-powered Volkswagen Amarok, with 90 per cent of all VW utes sold in this market rolling out of dealerships with the six-cylinder diesel.

And VW senior management back in Germany is acutely aware of how important the engine is to customers.

While some have speculated that Volkswagen will continue to offer its current V6 in the new-generation Amarok, Ford’s Australian-engineered T7 platform architecture would make this technically challenging and more expensive.

Beyond the new platform, engine, upgraded 4x4 driveline and 10-speed automatic transmission, it’s not yet clear what other Ford components will make their way into the next Amarok, such as the new SYNC4 infotainment system with a super-sized touch-screen.

Ford has previously stated the Ranger has an “advantage” over the Amarok given it is handling most of the development of both vehicles, which could be code for “we’ll keep some tricks up our sleeve”.

There are indications the T7 Ford Ranger will get a hybrid powertrain, but Volkswagen has previously poured cold water on electrification for the new Amarok.

While the Amarok is piggybacking off Ranger – just as the Mazda BT-50 did before it switched to the new Isuzu D-MAX – Volkswagen is taking the Aussie ute market very seriously and says it has learned lessons from the aborted Mercedes-Benz X-Class program, which was based heavily on the Nissan Navara.

The German brand has gone so far as to send a design team to Melbourne to help finetune the final styling direction of the new Amarok. The idea is to ensure the next Amarok ute is not a Nissan and Mercedes ‘mistake’.

In the first two months of 2021, the Amarok has found 1236 buyers, which is up by 13.8 per cent on the same period last year.

Stay tuned for more details on the all-new 2023 Volkswagen Amarok.