Volkswagen Secretly Built A Truck-Based SUV. It Might Do It Again

The seven-seat SUV used the Amarok's body-on-frame underpinnings.

VW Amarok Double Cab

Photo by: Volkswagen

Adrian Padeanu

By: Adrian Padeanu

Jul 21, at 3:47am ET

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THE BREAKDOWN

VW built a seven-seat, body-on-frame SUV prototype based on the first-generation Amarok.
It revisited the idea with sketches of a rugged SUV derived from the second-generation pickup truck.
VW confirms a third-generation Amarok is coming and an SUV sibling is under consideration.

It’s still baffling that the original Amarok never received the SUV treatment, as the pickup’s body-on-frame platform seemed to beg for a Ford Everest rival. As it turns out, Volkswagen did build one behind closed doors but ultimately decided to keep it to itself. Known internally as an “Amarok wagon,” the SUV version of the truck was left on the proverbial cutting room floor after failing to gain approval from the company’s higher-ups.

The interesting disclosure came from VW Commercial Vehicles boss Stefan Mecha in an interview with Australian magazine GoAuto. While the underpinnings for a “closed pickup” were readily available, it never got the green light because the company was concerned it wouldn’t sell well enough. Although internal projections showed it would’ve made sense in Australia, a single market wasn’t enough to make the project viable from a scalability perspective.

Despite those roadblocks, some people within VW have never truly given up on the idea of turning the Amarok into an SUV. A couple of years ago, Albert Kirzinger, Head of Design at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, took to LinkedIn to share a sketch of a second-generation Amarok with a fully enclosed rear section. However, the newer pickup is based on the Ranger, and the tie-up between VW and Ford never included an SUV derivative to take on the Blue Oval’s own Everest.

Second-generation Volkswagen Amarok-based SUV official rendering

Looking ahead, VW has already confirmed plans for a third-generation Amarok. Although Mecha admitted there are ongoing discussions with Ford about another collaboration, he said the company is keeping its options open. The current truck still has two to three years left, meaning its replacement is unlikely to arrive until around the turn of the decade. Once again, an SUV spinoff isn’t completely out of the question, but no final decision has been made.

As a refresher, the Commercial Vehicles division of the German automotive conglomerate has already announced plans to team up with China’s SAIC to replace the original Amarok. Now 17 years old, the first-generation workhorse remains on sale in South America and will be replaced in 2027 by a new truck with Chinese underpinnings. That means VW will continue to offer two Amarok variants tailored to different regions of the world.

Even without an Amarok-based SUV, the VW Group will still cater to the off-road SUV crowd with the Scout Traveler. It will enter production in 2027 with a starting price of under $60,000 and will be offered as a pure EV with around 350 miles of range. A range-extender version, featuring a naturally aspirated gas engine that serves as a generator, will deliver more than 500 miles of range. Both versions will be assembled at an entirely new plant in Blythewood, South Carolina.

Scout Traveler Electric SUV

Source: Scout Motors

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Motor1's Take: VW’s reluctance to turn the Amarok into an SUV has always felt like a missed opportunity. Better late than never, perhaps the third-generation truck will finally get a closed-body version to capitalize on the off-road SUV boom. It should’ve happened years ago, but it never did, leaving money on the table.

That said, times are tough at the VW Group as it looks to cut its model lineup in half to reduce costs dramatically. Given the company’s current financial challenges, we wouldn’t get our hopes up too high for an Amarok SUV, especially since the Scout Traveler is about to fill that niche.

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Source: GoAuto

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