After being dormant for years, the midsize pickup market is enjoying a resurgence in the U.S.
Not so long ago, many manufacturers gave up on this market segment, but the players that remained were proven right when sales started to increase.
Though Ford retired the Ranger compact pickup in the U.S., this nameplate remained on sale — as a midsize pickup — in regions like Latin America, Australia and other places. In fact, a completely new generation Ranger was introduced there in 2015 in Latin America, after the Ranger had been long discontinued in the States.
Soon Ford realized that the midsize pickup in America was recovering and by the end of 2018 the Ranger returned to the U.S. market, though to make this possible the new generation introduced in 2015 in Latin America had to be refined extensively.
VW pickups
Ford revealed last November the next generation of its Ranger and this model has a most interesting twist: it will underpin the second-generation Volkswagen Amarok.
The midsize VW pickup hit the market in 2010 and even though it was sold in Mexico, it never reached the U.S. market.
The next-gen Amarok features an exterior and interior design different enough to set it apart from the Ford Ranger as a VW product. It has a payload capacity of up to 1.28 tons (2,800 pounds) and a towing capacity of up to 7,700 pounds.
VW power
As for engines, it offers one gasoline and several diesel options. The gasoline engine is a 2.3-liter turbo with 298 horsepower. If this description sounds familiar it´s because it´s the EcoBoost by Ford.
The diesel options consist of three versions of the 2.0-liter 4-cylinder putting out 147 hp, 167 hp and 200 hp, respective as well as a 3.0-liter V-6 producing 246 hp.
The Amarok will offer up to 20 Automated Driver Assistance Systems and an available digital cluster with an 8-inch screen and a 12-inch touchscreen for its infotainment system.
The second-generation Amarok at least initially will be produced solely at Ford’s plant in South Africa and the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company revealed it will be sold in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, The Middle East and yes, it will continue the tradition of being sold in Mexico as well.
Coming to the U.S.?
Now, VW has been flirting with the idea of a pickup for the U.S. for a long time. In the 2000 edition of the NAIAS this brand showed the AAC Off Road Study Concept.
So, the notion of VW not offering the new Amarok in the U.S. is baffling, to say the least, because the Wolfsburg-based automotive conglomerate is definitely missing out on the action of a really profitable segment in one of the two largest automotive markets in the world.
VW could ask Ford to arrange its Michigan Assembly Plant to produce the Amarok alongside the Ranger. There has been some speculation that it could make its arrival in the U.S. as an all-electric pickup as well.
Offering the Ford Ranger based VW Amarok pickup in the States would not be strange at all. It would not be the first time that the brand sold vehicles produced by another manufacturer through an OEM agreement. VW sold a restyled Chrysler Town & Country minivan as the Routan in the U.S. market from 2011 through 2014 with little success.
But VW believes the Amarok is too small for the majority of American pickup buyers. Instead, the company is reintroducing the currently defunct Scout brand, which gives any new VW pickups an immediate truck heritage in the minds of U.S. consumers, one that doesn’t clash with Volkswagen’s brand image. And the company should know; its Rabbit-based pickup, produced at its Westmoreland, Pennsylvania plant from 1979 through 1984, failed to attract buyers.
A different path
Odds are VW executives do not want to repeat past mistakes, and they maintain that the Amarok is too small for the majority of American pickup buyers. Instead, the company is reintroducing the currently defunct Scout brand, which gives any new VW pickups an immediate truck heritage in the minds of U.S. consumers, one that doesn’t clash with Volkswagen’s brand image.
On Tuesday, Volkswagen Group AG named named Scott Keogh, currently president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, as Scout’s President and CEO.
Volkswagen is reviving the Scout name for an all-electric truck and SUV for the U.S. with the first deliveries expected to arrive in 2026. The new Scouts will be designed, engineered and built in the U.S. for American consumers. The Scout name was first used by International Harvester for its 1961 International Scout SUV, and was built through 1980. Volkswagen acquired the Scout brand when it purchased truck maker Navistar in 2020.
Executive Editor Larry Printz contributed to this report.
A VW pickup based on a Ford Ranger. Ahhh… yes just look at the successes of the Suzuki Equator and the Mitsubishi Raider pickups! None of these brands had or have the advertising resources to promote a model in the mid-size pickup space without starving other higher-volume models in their portfolio. Additionally, these smaller brands’ dealer networks are also smaller (than the tier one truck makers) and as a result, don’t have much of a footprint in the markets that are more truck-centric.
Darwin, the VW Amarok has been a strong seller overseas. It’s not coming to the U.S., at least not anytime soon.
Paul E.