Despite having previously ruled out an Amarok-based SUV, Volkswagen now says it may well need to (eventually) create one. Here’s why…

A high-ranking Volkswagen executive says the German company is considering offering an adventure SUV based on the new Amarok at some point further down the line, despite having previously suggested otherwise.

The second-generation Amarok is, of course, based on the latest Ford Ranger, with the platform furthermore underpinning the new Everest. Earlier in 2022, VW was asked whether there were any plans to create its own version of the ladder-frame Everest. The answer? Clearly in the negative.

However, Volkswagen Commercial product manager Petr Sulc intriguingly explained to Australian journalists (including those at WhichCar and CarsGuide) at the Amarok’s international launchin Cape Town that Europe’s upcoming stricter emissions regulations could necessitate a VW-badged version of the Everest.

How? Well, it’s a little complicated, but let us explain. Though Ford has not explicitly stated a fully electric version of the Ranger or Everest is on the cards, it has said the platform is “future-proofed”, suggesting such models will indeed one day come to market. VW is thus also looking closely at a battery-powered version of the Amarok.

The VW exec’s comments suggest a battery-powered Ford Everest is also on the cards.

For a fully electric Amarok to come to fruition, Sulc believes an SUV version would be required to make a sound business case, largely from a sales-volume perspective. The same would surely apply to Ford, meaning an electric Everest could certainly be in the planning.

“[An adventure SUV] was not a scope of the previous negotiations [with Ford], so it was really what we were telling them we are not interested in,” the VW executive told Australian media.

“I can imagine that if we should approach [Ford] for the battery-electric vehicle, that [the SUV version] is having sense. Why? Because you will not be able to fulfil the volume requirement to utilise the investment only with one type of the car,” he explained.

“If you have a look at Everest and Ranger, they are 80% similar. The front and side are the same; the platform is the same. You are having the better scale if you offer two [body styles].”

In May 2022, the VW Group officially revived the Scout nameplate as a sub-brand, confirming plans to build an electric bakkie and a battery-powered SUV wearing this badge, chiefly for the North American market. Sulc pointed out an electric Amarok and Amarok-based SUV would be playing in the segment below these Scout models, meaning there wouldn’t be any overlap or internal competition.

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