Report: Volkswagen puts a market hold on petrol-powered Amarok

After plenty of hype over the last 12 or so months, Volkswagen Group Africa has confirmed that it will not launch the 222 kW petrol-powered Amarok in South Africa.

Not coming this year

Initially confirmed for a debut in 2024’s second half, a spokesperson for the automaker’s local arm said,” We have decided to put this engine on hold. We believe the current variants of our existing engines are suitable for our market.”

The earmarked 2.3-litre turbocharged EcoBoost petrol engine would have been the most powerful in the local Amarok line-up, eclipsing the 184 kW produced by the Blue Oval’s own 3.0-litre turbodiesel V6.

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However, the 2.3-litre unit’s torque is substantially down on the V6’s 600 Nm at 452 N.m. The engine is mated to Ford’s 10-speed automatic transmission, while Volkswagen’s 4Motion system channels power to the road.

‘Electric’ EcoBoost

Interestingly, this engine is already powering the South African-built Amarok in Australia. Ford South Africa will soon begin production of the plug-in hybrid Ranger PHEV.

While this bakkie is not yet confirmed for local introduction, it will employ the same EcoBoost engine, coupled with electric assistance for a total system output of 205kW/690Nm.

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