Volkswagen Amarok’s facelift revealed but not as expected

Teased just over a month ago, Volkswagen has now fully detailed the facelifted Amarok in Argentina, albeit not the current generation based on the Ford Ranger.

100% Volkswagen

Instead, the revisions apply to the first generation made at the General Pacheco Plant following Volkswagen’s announcement shortly after the second generation Amarok’s reveal that global production would solely originate from Ford’s Silverton Plant outside Pretoria.

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Part of a $250-million investment into the Argentine facility, the external changes to the now 14-year-old Amarok involves a restyled exterior and small changes to the interior.

New face

Outwardly modelled on the aesthetic revisions applied to the Saveiro last year, the Amarok receives a new grille with a full-length upper LED illuminated bar, a restyled bumper and lower air intake, new fog lamp surrounds, lights that “flow” into the grille and a new font for the Amarok logo draped across the tailgate underneath the Volkswagen logo.

In addition to new 20-inch alloy wheels on Extreme trim levels and up, two new colours have been added, Selvia Grey and Atlantic Blue to a colour palette comprising three other hues; white, Pyrite Grey and Indy Grey.

Porsche-type clock?

Inside, the interior appears almost unchanged bar a new nine-inch Composition Touch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which are standard on all models.

More subtle are the new type-C UBS ports in conjunction with the existing type-As, and a slightly updated multi-function steering wheel with physical switches.

The biggest addition though is the Porsche-esque chronograph integrated onto the dashboard Wolfsburg calls the Safer Tag.

In essence, the clock-like display functions as an alert indicator by working together with the Lane Departure Warning, Pedestrian Detection and Forward Collision Warning systems.

2.0 TDI or V6

On the power front, the range spans six double cab models with only the base Trendline being rear-wheel-drive and fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox.

In this instance, motivation comes from the single turbo 2.0 TDI rated at 103kW/340Nm. Reportedly, the familiar 2.0 BiTDI with 132kW/420Nm will be added a later stage hooked to the eight-speed Tiptronic gearbox only.

For the rest of the range; Comfortline, Highline, Extreme, Black and Hero, the much loved 3.0 TDI prevails with outputs of 190kW/580Nm, which increases to 200 kW on overboost for short spells.

Paired to the eight-speed Tiptronic ‘box, all V6 models receive the 4Motion permanent all-wheel-drive system from the start without low range.

Not for us

Priced from 38 046 500 pesos (R748 993) to 66 193 000 pesos (R1 303 093) in Argentina, the Amarok will soon be exported to other key Latin American markets, but won’t be making a return to South Africa anytime soon as a result of not only the locally-made Ranger-based model, but also due to production now being exclusive to Argentina with left-hand-drive.

Additional information form motor1.com Brazil.

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