Volkswagen Amarok exterior and interior previewed in fresh teasers

With the reveal of its Ford Ranger twin last month, attention has moved back to the all-new Volkswagen Amarok.

Officially teased back in March, the German automaker has now released two more images in the shape of sketch images, the biggest being a preview of the interior.

In what appears to be a confirmation of comments made in December last year by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Head of Design, Albert-Johann Kirzinger, the interior sketch depicts a design completely different to that of the Ranger.

Aside from the just visible digital instrument cluster that appears identical, the stubby gear lever is different, along with the centre console, and dashboard.

In addition, the steering wheel is a Volkswagen specific part instead of being a rebadged Ford item, while the expansive twelve-inch touchscreen infotainment system from the Ranger is conspicuously absent from the drawing.

“We’ve given the strength and power of the new Amarok an unambiguous expression–with clear Volkswagen DNA, inside and out,” Kirzinger said in an apparent thinly veiled swipe at criticism hailing the Amarok as nothing but a reskinned Ranger.

As known by the now, the Amarok will ride on the same T6.2 platform as the Ranger and Everest with production set to start towards the end of next year at the Blue Oval’s Silverton Plant outside Pretoria.

Up front, the current Volkswagen 2.0-litre single-and-bi-turbodiesel engines will be dropped in favour of the Ranger’s updated Panther units of the same displacement and turbo allocation, with the same applying to the 190kW/580Nm 3.0 TDI V6 that will make way for the 3.0 Powerstroke V6.

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All three units will be produced at Ford’s Straundale Plant in Port Elizabeth following the Blue Oval’s announcement last week of a R600-million investment into the facility for production of the mentioned unit.

Rumours have also alleged the introduction of an Amarok R along the lines of the Ranger Raptor with as much as 221 kW, though little else has emerged ever since the claim emerged in Germany last year.

At present, expect more details, teasers and official images to emerge throughout next year heading up till the confirmed launch date.