Volkswagen had once mulled over the idea of creating a Ford Everest-style four-wheel drive van to go along with the most recent Amarok ute, which shares its fundamentals with the Ford Ranger. Up until March 2023, it was still unclear if the German automaker was serious about bringing such a vehicle to market.
Although Volkswagen and Ford have been developing vehicles together for years, a wagon variant of the Amarok looked like it may never come to fruition. There have been multiple statements from Volkswagen executives expressing uncertainty and interest in the making of a vehicle akin to the Ford Everest. The chief of design at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Albert Kirzinger, shared an image of a concept resembling an Amarok van that had been under consideration by the company. The van would have been a four-wheel drive vehicle meant for off-road excursions, with a fully enclosed pickup bed. This concept had been presented in the early stages of design discussions when Volkswagen and Ford were first planning the attributes of their sister utes.
Details are scarce regarding the extent of the design process or when the image was created. However, it is evident that the vehicle was intended to be different from the conventional gasoline or diesel pickup truck. According to Waldemar Bauf, a product planner for VW commercial vehicles, there were no concrete plans for a pickup truck version of the Amarok, but an electric Amarok seemed like a possibility.
Kirzinger, when questioned on social media, neither confirmed nor denied the coming of a VW sibling to the Everest. When asked if Volkswagen would make decisions on the potential vehicle within the next 12 months, Bauf mentioned that instead of an electric Amarok, both a ute and a wagon could be released.
This Amarok van sketch provides insight into the early design direction Volkswagen had been considering, although its actual future, if any, remains up in the air.
