On the basis of the Amarok pickup, Volkswagen may develop a pure electric SUV.
A recent interview conducted by WhichCar Australia with Petr Sulc, the executive in charge of Volkswagen’s global product management, revealed the following:
Since SUVs were not included in our previous negotiations [with Ford] regarding a commercial vehicle partnership, I told him that it was not something we would be interested in. Although I can imagine that if we really want to get close to [Ford’s] EVs, then it would make sense to have an SUV.
In the present day, the Amarok is not manufactured by Volkswagen, but by Ford at its Silverton plant in South Africa, instead of by Volkswagen. 80% of the components of the new car are derived from the ones used in the Ford Ranger, which gave rise to the Everest SUV. This greatly reduces the cost of development of the new car.
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It is his opinion that although the Scout has the capability of competing with full-size pickups such as the Ford F-150, the latter is highly competitive and buyers are very loyal to domestic brands as a whole. In view of this, Volkswagen is likely to be relying heavily on buyer loyalty to justify its approval of the Scout project, since it hopes that “it will be a name that buyers will remember and resonate with.”
