Open secret no more: New Volkswagen Amarok V6 will be Ford powered

Although very much an open secret despite it not being announced officially, Ford’s Platform Head for the new Ranger and Everest has confirmed that the new Volkswagen Amarok will make use of the Blue Oval’s 3.0-litre turbodiesel engine in V6 guise.

Due to be unveiled later this year with the most recent hint being the divulging of certain specification items three months ago, the Amarok will ride on the same T6.2 underpinnings as the Ranger and Everest and have its production move from the General Pacheco Plant in Argentina to Dearborn’s Silverton facility outside Pretoria.

Spied undergoing testing in September last year, but teased by Wolfsburg in sketch form no less than two times this year, with an original hailing from 2020, the biggest source of debate has been the choice of powerunits reports have alleged will be Ford units in both four-cylinder and six-cylinder forms.

While the former is expected to have the same 2.0-litre capacity with either single or bi-turbocharging as in the current Amarok, the 190kW/580Nm 3.0 TDI V6 was deemed unsuitable for the General Motors co-developed ten-speed automatic gearbox and therefore ruled-out for continuing in the new model from the start.

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“They were extremely pleased with the kind of selection of powertrains and what we were doing to the chassis. But also they were very clear they wanted a fully differentiated product. They didn’t want just to have a badge diversion,” Ian Foston told Australia’s carexpert.com last week.

“It took a while for us to sign all the nondisclosure agreements, get some of the early partnership understandings, and then we kind of shared what we were doing. Pretty much what they wanted was very much compatible with what we were doing, so it was a happy days”.

Reaffirming comments made back in 2020 by Volkswagen’s Commercial Vehicle Head, Albert-Johann Kirzinger, against mounting criticism of the Amarok simply being a re-skinned Ranger, Foston stated, “It’s going to be a proper, proper Volkswagen with all the DNA, all the touch points that the customer you know, feel sees, and experiences”.

Aside from production taking place at Silverton as part of Ford’s record R15.8-billion investment announced last year, assembly of both the 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre mills, the latter producing 184kW/600Nm in the Ranger and Everest, will also take place on local soil at the Straundale Engine Plant in Port Elizabeth as per the Blue Oval’s additional R600-million investment last year.

While an official date of unveiling is yet to confirmed, including the “under investigation” Amarok R supposedly derived from the Ranger Raptor, Volkswagen has announced that it will be before the end of the year.

Expect therefore more details to emerge over the weeks and months.