VW Amarok: Volkswagen pick-up comes to UK in 2011

Volkswagen will launch the Amarok pick-up truck in the UK in spring 2011. It’s the first time since the 1980s that a VW pick-up has been sold in Britain.

VW plans to sell just a couple of thousand Amaroks a year in the UK in a full year; the big markets for this truck are utility-centric markets such as Australia and both north and south America (the VW Amarok is built in Argentina).

Prices haven’t been announced yet, but it’ll be on a par with its four-strong competitor set. The Toyota Hilux will be a benchmark, we hear, so expect prices from around £18,000 for the high-powered diesel.

At first just one Amarok will be sold here: the 161bhp 2.0 TDI common-rail diesel. A lower-powered 120bhp version of the same engine will arrive later.

The Amarok will be available only as a double-cab pick-up in Europe initially. However, a single-cab concept was shown at the Hanover commercial vehicle show.

Although this model won’t set Volkswagen’s sales figures alight overnight, it’s further evidence that the VW Group is intent on filling every which niche.

By Tim Pollard