VW Might Bring Pickup Truck Concept To New York This Week
It won't be the Amarok.
Khodrocar - We are just a couple of days away from the kickoff of the New York Auto Show, so it’s only natural that more and more rumors are emerging about what we’ll see in the Big Apple. Case in point, sources familiar with Volkswagen’s agenda have learned that a midsize pickup truck in concept form is going to be revealed on Wednesday ahead of getting a production version reportedly set to be built in Tennessee.
Although VW registered the name "Amarok” on November 22, 2017 with the with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the pickup truck in question won’t actually be based on the same posh workhorse. Instead, the yet-unnamed pickup will reportedly use the underpinnings of the Atlas SUV, which will also be in New York to show off its new five-seat configuration. A conceptual pickup would come some 18 years after the AAC unveiled back in 2000 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit to preview the original Touareg.
While Mercedes has made it crystal clear it doesn’t have plans to bring the Nissan Navara-based X-Class stateside, VW is eager to introduce a pickup truck in the U.S. In fact, the model could enter the production phase "relatively soon” if the feedback at the show will be positive, according to AN. It is believed VW core brand CEO Herbert Diess "has supported it [pickup truck] from a very early phase in the project,” a VW insider revealed.
Such a midsize pickup truck would have to battle the Chevy Colorado, Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, and the Honda Ridgeline, prompting another source within the company to be cautious about the model’s chances of being a commercial success in the U.S. and Canada.
In related news, VW is also planning a new compact crossover for the U.S. market bound to go on sale in 2020. While the company already has such a model in other markets where the T-Roc has been launched, the U.S.-spec CUV in question will actually be based on the Powerful Family SUV (shown above) previewed last week in Beijing, China during the Touareg’s reveal.
Source: Automotive News
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