First there were rumours, then came the actual confirmation and now there’s a signed piece of paper that confirms Ford and Volkswagen will be working together to build the next-generation Ranger and Amarok.
These new version could hit the market by as early as 2022, which sounds about right timing wise.
The all-new Amarok will be based on the next-generation Ranger platform, which is coming along rather nicely according to various higher ups within both companies.
That’s pretty much all we know so far.
We can speculate, however. This deal will likely be similar to the Nissan Navara/Mercedes-Benz X-Class in the sense that both bakkies use the same platform and engines, but feature their own styling and different high-specification models.
We can only hope that VW will continue to produce the V6 derivative of its bakkie.
From a business perspective, this deal makes sense. Combined, these two manufacturers sold a total of 1.2 million LCVs last year and demand for both models continue to escalate.
The Ranger is the only local bakkie that competes with the Hilux in terms of sales figures, while the Amarok continues to dominate higher up in the market, with around 70% of sales being of the V6 variety.