Skip to main content

Americans Might Get to Drive the Amarok After All (Sorta)

Remember when Ford and Volkswagen signed a development deal in June and we were all crossing our fingers for a pickup? Well, it could kind of be happening.

Australia’s GoAuto reports that VW’s Australian managing director, Michael Bartsch, thinks an Amarok-Ranger tie-up is the only logical next step. Unfortunately, it’s still too early say for sure.

“I think it would be disingenuous of me to say there is nothing going on with Ford,” says Bartsch. But he thinks the Amarok is currently too expensive in an extremely competitive market, so something’s gotta give.

“What I think is very clear is, in order to be competitive in Australia, we have to get the cost base of [Amarok] down. It’s being produced in Argentina and Germany and both of those are high-cost markets for a product that is in the most competitive environment that you can be in.”

He added, though, that even if the two brands share a platform, each pickup would preserve its unique identity.

Unfortunately, as Bartsch prefaced his statements, it’s still early to confirm the project. The deal is still just a memorandum of understanding and spy photos of a Ford Transit testing alongside a VW Crafter suggest that this is a more urgent focus for Ford and VW.

Even more unfortunately, even if Ford and VW co-develop a small pickup together, that doesn’t necessarily mean that VW will bring it to the US. Even if they don’t though, with Ford bringing the Ranger to the States, people who are really dedicated to the idea of owning an Amarok will be able to buy a Ranger and change its badges to have something that looks vaguely right and drives like a VW. It’s not much, but it’s something, I guess.

A vehicle based on this partnership won’t be ready for some time, though. So don’t expect to be able to badge reverse-engineer your Amarok until some time in the ‘20s.

Ford is no stranger to playing nice with others. It recently co-developed its lauded 10-speed automatic transmission with GM.

[source: GoAuto]

The post Americans Might Get to Drive the Amarok After All (Sorta) appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex https://ift.tt/2vnnWUm
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Watch: The Stig Drives (nearly) Seven Generations of Golf GTI

With Volkswagen announcing “major” updates to the Golf, it seems an appropriate time to look back on what we’ve had so far. And who better to guide us through the rich history of the most popular European car ever made than Ben Collins, the former Stig? Some say he’s never met a GTI he doesn’t love, and that he can’t grow any of his own facial hair. All we know is … Ben Collins is actually a pretty solid presenter. Working his way through seven generations of the GTI (skipping over the Mk6) Collins tells us a little bit about each one and matches each mark to its corresponding facial hair craze. The Mk1 GTI for instance, is light and quick, but can lose traction under hard acceleration (in heavy rain). Despite that, Collins calls the Mk1 a “pure gem.” The Mk4, meanwhile, is a powerful return to form after the perhaps too sensible Mk3. Collins ends in the only way he could, with the Mk7, which accelerates faster than a Lamborghini Countach and is all kinds of wonderful. Watch, ...

Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car. The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB. “Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo . William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients. Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle ...

Watch: The Zerouno Cruis’n USA

ItalDesign is drumming up excitement for its new supercar based around the same 5.2-liter Audi V10 that powers the R8. Naturally, it hit the road for a cruise around California last week to celebrate Monterey Car Week. There isn’t much in the way of V10 noise—which is a real shame given the sound it makes—but you do at least get a good look at the car inside and out in this video. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber and designed to be as aerodynamic and light as possible, ItalDesign figures that it will be good for a 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. “We put it our best skills into the production of the first car,” said Massimo Bovi, head of pre-series production, when the Zerouno was first unveiled in Geneva earlier this year. “Using some of the finest productions methods and engaging our high-skilled workers.” The car features clever aero tricks gleaned from single-seat racing, like a y-duct up front to improve downforce and turn-in. Available in a number of trim levels, the...