Volkswagen feels that there is room in the market for a battery SUV running on the latest-gen Amarok tech, said Petr Sulc, one of the executives on the company, in his interview to WhichCar. Once the off-roader is out, the company will have a financial justification to follow up with an electric Amarok pickup.
Soon after the second generation of the
Amarok debuted last summer with Ford Ranger tech under the hood, Volkswagen
said it was not planning on releasing a light passenger version of it. In spring, though, representatives
of the company admitted that an electric version of the pickup was being
considered for release in the mid-2020s.
Petr Sulc pointed out that the Ranger and
the Everest share 80% of their components. By complementing the range with an
electric pickup truck and then an SUV, Volkswagen could possibly profit from
large-scale production cost cuts. The important thing to realize is that Ford,
which provides the donor platform, has not yet announced an intention to
electrify either the Ranger or the Everest.
If the allelectric Amarok and its
passenger-oriented sibling do go on sale, they will not cannibalize the sales
of Volkswagen’s revived Scout brand, Sulc assured. Scout will remain a car
marque oriented towards the North American market. It is currently working on a
larger electric pickup sized close to the Ford F-150.
