2023 Volkswagen Amarok

Fit and finish, along with build quality appears to be pretty good. We did notice the rear air vent housing to be a little loose when pulled while moving the air vents in the second row. Outside of that, everything felt above board and what you’d expect from a premium dual-cab ute.

Storage space is good with two cup holders in the centre console, a slot for wireless phone charging, along with USB-C, 12V and USB-A connectivity. There’s also an additional USB-A port adjacent to the AEB equipment for the installation of a dash camera.

Two glove boxes come standard across the range, but the interior misses out on the cup holders beneath the air vents found on Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max and some Ranger specifications.

Thankfully the steering wheel doesn’t use the haptic touch elements we’ve seen in some Volkswagen products. Instead it uses physical buttons with a slight flat bottom profile. It was strange to see a number of blank buttons on the wheel, even on the top-spec Aventura – perhaps they’re reserved for future features.

Moving to the second row, there’s now finally room for adults. The previous-generation Amarok had plenty of width to accommodate burly adults, but knee and leg room was very cramped.

Thanks to the Ranger’s increased wheelbase, you can now comfortably accommodate a tall adult in the second row behind the tall driver or front passenger.There’s also ample toe and head room.

While there are no USB outlets for charging devices, you will find a 230V power outlet (150W), along with a 12V outlet. There are also air vents, along with a centre armrest with two cup holders.

The second row’s seat base lifts to reveal a small storage area, along with a storage nook for the jack and other emergency safety equipment. The rear seats offer ISOFIX anchors on the outboard positions, along with two top-tether points. There’s no room to store items behind the seat back in the second row.

The Volkswagen Amarok has a very distinctive exterior design that was worked on by teams both in Australia and Germany.

Australia’s line up will initially kick off with three of the five variants, before the final two arrive mid-2023.

Arriving first will be the Amarok Style (formerly known as the Highline), the PanAmericana (formerly the Canyon) and finally, the Aventura.

All three variants will be available with a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel shared with the Ford Ranger; optional on the Style, and standard on both the PanAmericana and Aventura.

The Style will come standard with a 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel, also shared with the Ford Ranger.

The Aventura will also offer a 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine as an option. This engine is unique to the Amarok and isn’t available with the Ranger locally; and is based on the same motor used in the likes of the Ford Focus ST hot hatch and Mustang High Performance pony car. 

All three launch engines are mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission, with the V6 diesel and four-cylinder petrol driven through a permanent all-wheel drive system.

2.0-litre 4cyl turbo-diesel (Amarok)

• 125kW of power
• 405Nm of torque
• 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic

2.0-litre 4cyl bi-turbo diesel (Life, Style)

• 154kW of power 
• 500Nm of torque
• 10-speed automatic transmission

3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel (Style, PanAmericana, Aventura)

• 184kW of power
• 600Nm of torque
• 10-speed automatic transmission

2.3-litre 4cyl turbo petrol (Aventura)

• 222kW of power
• 452Nm of torque
• 10-speed automatic transmission