Ford did it with the Everest, but can Volkswagen summon a related body-on-frame SUV of its own?
Manager of marketing and product at Volkswagen Australia, Nathan Johnson, told Chasing Cars that the interest is there for a wagon SUV.
“If the opportunity ever presented to us, we’d definitely be happy to have discussions about that car … the large SUV market is huge in Australia.
Volkswagen has left the door open for a wagon-bodied variant of the Amarok similar to the Ford Everest
“There’s nothing that is open to us at this time, but if it ever did present the opportunity, we’d love to have a discussion with the factory about it.”
Volkswagen’s general manager of corporate communications, Paul Pottinger, added that it’s still early days.
“It’s early in the lifecycle of the car. The possibilities are really endless. We’ve got to remember how long this [Amarok generation] is going to be around for,” Pottinger said.
The second-generation Amarok has been developed in partnership with Ford and its Ranger ute
What would a hypothetical Amarok wagon be like?
If a wagon SUV version of the Amarok did become a reality, it would likely have very similar dimensions to the current Ford Everest – based on the T6.2 Ranger platform – and could offer multiple powertrain options.
The headlining act would likely be the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine, however the four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel engine could also be a possibility.
The Touareg has historically been offered as a five-seat only model
With the Touareg large SUV only offered with five seats, and the Tiguan Allspace being a decidedly smaller vehicle better fit for on-road use, the Amarok could bridge the gap between these two models.
Large SUVs accounted for 140,000 sales in Australia last year, while SUVs in general sold more than 574,000 units in total during 2022.