Volkswagen has used its Annual Media Conference to tease the next-generation Amarok double-cab bakkie.

Many of you have commented on recent Volkswagen Amarok content that the bakkie needs a redesign and an update as its looking old. Well, Volkswagen is well aware the Amarok is no spring chicken any more and released a design sketch of the new model.

The big news is that if you remember correctly, back in early 2019Volkswagen and Ford signed an agreement to develop and share costs on the new generation of commercial vehicles. So that's bakkies and vans (think Caddy and Transit). During the conference, Volkswagen chairman Herbert Diess said the new Amarok will be one of the first fruits of thecollaboration between Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and American carmaker Ford.

There will be a lot of shared technology and we expect this 2nd-generation Volkswagen Amarok to feature a lot of kit with the all-newFord Ranger, and both models are expected to go on sale after 2022.

The German company has now released a second design impression of what its new Amarok might look like. This new graphic shows a bakkie that is moving much closer to production vehicle status in its configuration and details.

Volkswagen’s original second-generation Amarok image showed a radical bakkie without rear doors and oversized wheels. This updated design rendering is much less outrageous and features a double-cab body, with four doors.

Differentiation from Ranger will be crucial for Volkswagen’s ambition with the new Amarok and its target market will be double-cab lifestyle bakkie buyers. As such, it is no surprise to see rood rails and an LED light bar atop the latest Amarok design image. There is also a roll bar visible in the loadbox.

Compared to the first Amarok second-generation rendering, this newer design has a less pronounced bonnet, with a much lower profile and less prominent power dome. Characterising the front of Volkswagen’s updated Amarok design are more noticeable fog lights.

Although the wheel size is no longer cartoonish and tyre tread more real-world applicable, Volkswagen has retained the square wheel arch shaping, for its forthcoming Amarok.

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