Manufactured by Ford in South Africa on behalf of the Hanover-based Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles division, the second generation Amarok is breaking sales records the world over.
Launched fourteen years ago, generation one is not only still in production but was refreshed just a few weeks ago with a big facelift and an updated interior. The older model is mainly for markets in South America and no longer comes to Europe.
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From Pretoria to Portsmouth, Pant-y-Cas, Penwhapple Burn and Portadown
Volkswagen Argentina says it will have produced 750,000 examples of Amarok 1 at its Pacheco works by the end of the current quarter. Assembly in Ecuador (Quito), Algeria (Relizane) and Germany (Hanover) ceased a while back and the new shape is produced solely at the Silverton factory outside Pretoria.
The Ranger and Amarok pairing has become quite a big deal for the ever more successful Ford-VW light commercials joint venture. Things seem to be going so well that it would be foolish to rule out at least one if not more pick-ups for different size segments, especially in the Americas.
When it comes to engineering, the partners have kept it simple with IC-engines only. The previous ladder frame chassis was re-engineered with transmissions and engines similarly updated. There are three diesels and two petrols as well as rear plus four-wheel drive systems, and four transmissions. As applies to the base trim offered in other countries, neither a five-speed manual gearbox nor the Ford 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine are available in Britain. The offering here comprises two diesel engines, one manual transmission and one automatic.
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By GlobalDataNo petrol engines for UK market…
With the exception of the entry level Life 125 kW (170 PS) engine, all British market passenger versions of the new pick-up have a standard ten-speed self-shifter. For us, the least powerful Ford Panther 2.0-litre unit (branded 2.0 TDI for the Amarok) is matched to a manual six-speeder. An automatic with the same number of ratios is also available linked to certain powertrains in other markets.
The two remaining choices for British buyers are a 150 kW (205 PS) biturbo TDI and a 176 kW (240 PS) version of the Ford Lion/Power Stroke 2,993 cc V6. VW badges this one 3.0 TDI. Twenty years old in 2025, the Lion family can trace its roots to a long-ago JV between Ford of Europe and PSA Peugeot Citroën. Remember the 3.6-litre V8 that powered Range Rovers? Same engine family.
Distinguishing the car-like variants from their LCV counterparts, every Amarok has standard 4MOTION four-wheel drive. There is one other engine, a biturbo Ford petrol V6 available in two states of turn. This, however, is exclusively for the Ranger Raptor – there is no such model as an Amarok R.
One last note on the Ford powertrains side of the project. Lots of money has been injected into the Argentinian operations of the joint venture, with the Ford diesel V6 now also manufactured there. This commenced in June following a spend equivalent to US$80 million. Pacheco has since become a source of the Lion engine fitted to Silverton-made Amaroks and Rangers.
…and no single-cab LCVs either
Of the four trim levels, Aventura has a lot of chrome-look detailing while PanAmerica has more black and grey highlights in equivalent places, such as mirror caps, door-pulls, rims and bumper covers. The idea is luxury versus off-roading though both have long-travel suspension. There are leaf springs at the rear for all variants and despite this, ride comfort with an empty tray is quite good. Somehow not quite to the same standard as the Ranger. But close.
Light commercials come with single and double cab bodies in many countries but the passenger versions all have four full-sized doors. They are also remarkably roomy and the back windows lower fully. Head room is vast, door bins will take big bottles, there are two gloveboxes and in the press tester Life spec 150 kW 2.0 TDI, grab handles featured for each front occupant. Which can be handy as the Amarok is way higher to climb aboard than most crossovers and SUVs.
Wide but needed for stability
At nearly 5.4 metres from end to end and a bit more with an optional tow-bar, this is not an ideal vehicle for British parking spaces. It is also fairly wide but at least the mirrors will fold in electrically at any driving speed. The thing steers quite nicely too and whilst performance could not be considered brisk, zero to 62 mph in 10.5 seconds and a 112 mph top speed are good for a pick-up of this size and weight.
In 2WD mode and no load in the back, the tyres will squeal fairly easily on roads and at speeds which you might not expect. Nothing dangerous, just a reminder that this truck has 500 Nm available and a high centre of gravity. So it needs all the clever electronic stability systems. Lane centring can be switched off with two presses of the same steering wheel button for anyone who dislikes it. And when it comes to 4×4 settings, these are just a twist of a dial away, comprising 2H, 4A, 4H and 4L.
Portrait screen (just like a Mustang Mach-E)
Volkswagen has switched things around a bit on the dashboard compared to what Ford gives you with the Ranger. Steering wheels are also specific to each model. And the one in the Amarok has proper hard-plastic buttons rather than the inferior haptic alternatives which have bedeviled other recent VWs.
Just as in the Ranger, a portrait format screen sits flush in the middle of the dashboard. This is ideally positioned. i.e. not up too high and intrusively bright at night. The HVAC controls are, alas, screen-based but at least there is a proper volume dial for music. Unfortunately there are no real buttons for rapid demist or cooling. To be fair, there is one A/C master switch but then your next move is to the screen to choose temperature and fan speed.
Ford looks as though it has been taking note of all the people who switch brands to perhaps avoid fiddly screens, e.g. American Honda and Hyundai famously bringing back the models to main models. Perhaps in the future, clip-on volume and HVAC controls will be available (presumably at extra cost): is this the idea behind a Ford patent application which was recently publicised?
A very Ford vehicle but with traditional German touches
A few things give the game away that the Amarok did not start life as a fresh piece of paper in a Germany-based engineering centre. The obvious one is a fuel flap filler on the American/Asian car brand side. The doors do though shut with the same heavy thunk as those in the old Amarok. Plastics are impressive for an LCV-based model at least and better than in many a contemporary VW. And people in Hanover have also connected the indicator stalk to each tail-lamp: flick it either way to illuminate the relevant one when parking this wide vehicle on any poorly lit and narrow road.
Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge might have insisted on specifying a very German lighting function but it has overlooked the Ford font on the touchsceen not matching the VW one for instrument cluster/steering wheel controls.
Another thing I noticed was that handy function which so many European vehicles have, namely holding down the lock/unlock button to lift/lower all windows. Did you know Ford has a term for it? You can activate or deactivate Global Opening/Closing in one of many sub-menus. And yes, those words are in a friendly Ford font.
Sub-30 mpg economy
Volkswagen specifies an 80-litre tank, giving the 205 PS-engined Style a long range. Room for lots of air to swirl around under those generous front and rear wings plus some 2.5 tonnes of kerb weight are probably why I only saw 28.9 mpg during a week of some 400 miles in all manner of conditions.
Staying away from 60 and 70 mph limit carriageways, an owner can expect a better result. And worth noting is the effective-for-economy stop-start system tends to be a tad juddery. As with Lane Keeping, anyone who dislikes that can just deactivate it.
Not cheap but what new vehicle is?
Unless you are SAIC attacking the main segments of the British and greater European markets (oh so successfully with the new MG 3 and HS), few new cars are anything but pricey these days. That is about my only issue with the Amarok: you can easily spend more than fifty thousand pounds on a mid-spec one. VW UK does pile in the standard equipment it should be said, which partly counters that criticism.
Summary
Nissan, Mercedes and Fiat competitors are gone, the Hilux is old and not so great anyway, while Isuzu and KGM models are each very good but niche brands can also mean scattered servicing networks. That leaves the Amarok to tough it out in the UK market with…its twin brother.
Ford has been doing very good business with the new Ranger for more than a year now. Volkswagen has a great competitor with a slightly more premium-look interior and, for the badge snobs, its brand name. For a lot of lifestyle pick-up buyers, paying a bit more for an Amarok versus a Ranger will be worth it.
There are six Amarok variants in Britain, each one a 4×4 and diesel-powered:
- Life, 125 kW (170 PS) single-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder, six-speed manual
- Life, 150 kW (205 PS) bi-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder, ten-speed automatic
- Style, 150 kW (205 PS) bi-turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder, ten-speed automatic
- Style, 177 kW (240 PS), bi-turbo 3.0-litre V6, ten-speed automatic
- PanAmericana, 177 kW (240 PS), bi-turbo 3.0-litre V6, ten-speed automatic
- Aventura, 177 kW (240 PS), bi-turbo 3.0-litre V6, ten-speed automatic
Pricing starts at GBP42,114 with the as-tested 205 PS Style costing GBP50,931 (OTR including VAT for both).
