New VW Amarok officially on sale in South Africa from this week – What’s available

The first customer deliveries of the new VW Amarok took place this 18 March, meaning the bakkie is now officially driving around on South African roads.

Pricing for the VW was initially announced around one month ago and it has only been available for test drives ever since, with buyers now finally able to walk out of the dealership with a new Amarok and not just a reservation, provided there are models in stock.

What’s available

Individuals with their eye on a new VW-badged double cab have 12 specifications to choose from ranging from R599,000 to R1,105,000. The company assured that single-cab styles are also coming, but they are only due to arrive in the second quarter of the year with the pricing and model line-up to be announced closer to the time.

Until then, the Amarok is offered with two rows of seating and exclusively in Base, Life, Style, PanAmericana, and Aventura equipment levels.

Across the range, the high-rider sports LED headlights, a multifunction steering wheel, an 8.0-inch digital cockpit, a 10-inch central touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera, and cruise control.

Get the Life nameplate, and you can expect upgrades such as a leather steering wheel, an electronic parking brake, front parking sensors, a power tailgate lock, as well as 17-inch “Combra” wheels on the 125kW variant, and front-seat heating and 18-inch Amadora rims on the 154kW one.

The Style’s offerings continue with keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, wireless charging, Savona leather upholstery, heated front seats, ambient lighting, a 12-inch digital driver’s cluster, a 12-inch infotainment screen, high-beam assist, a multi-collision brake system, autonomous emergency braking, and lane assist.

True to its name, it also gets a tubular chrome styling bar, side steps, and either 18-inch Amadora or 20-inch Bendigo alloys.

The Aventura and PanAmericana are presented as the range-toppers, the former being the city crawler and the latter the off-road-focused 4×4.

Both feature the IQ.Light LED headlights, LED tail lights, a Harmon Kardon stereo, the Discover Media navigation system, “Cricket” leather seats, rear cross-traffic alert, park assist, front assist with autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist, a 360-degree camera, driver fatigue detection, evasive steering assist, blind-spot monitoring, and either black 18-inch Amadora or 20-inch Bendigo wheels.

The PanAmericana is set apart by a black tubular styling bar, silver roof rails, a load box bed liner, metal underbody protection, and improved suspension as standard.

The Aventura, on the other hand, brings a body-colour sports bar, an electric roller cover for the load bed, premium carpet floor mats, 21-inch Varberg rims, and chrome finishes for the mirrors, door handles, and side steps.

Between the 12 Amaroks on the market are a total of four turbo-diesel engines, with the specifications of these powertrains detailed below:

Engine	Power	Fuel cons.	RWD/AWD
2.0-litre TDI	110kW/350Nm	6.9l/100km	RWD
2.0-litre TDI	125kW/405Nm	6.9-7.1l/100km	RWD + AWD
2.0-litre Bi-TDI	154kW/500Nm	7.5l/100km	AWD
3.0-litre V6 TDI	184kW/600Nm	8.4l/100km	AWD

The base TDI comes with a five-speed manual gearbox exclusively, the 125kW mates with either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission, and the Bi-TDI and V6 are only shipped with a 10-speed auto-box.

The entire Amarok line-up is now also capable of hauling loads of up to 1.19 tonnes in the rear box as well as tow a maximum of 3,500kg, while boasting a maximum water wading depth of 800mm.