Below its Volkswagen badge, the new Amarok is mainly a brand new Ford Ranger. The Amarok and Ranger are not-so-distant cousins because of a partnership between VW and Ford, which agreed to construct the midsize truck for the German automaker. This makes the dearth of a single cab, stick-shift Ranger within the U.S. all of the extra painful as a result of it seems that Ford is making a sensible, easy Ranger for markets overseas, in line with the Drive.

The Amarok’s declare to fame (not less than round these components) is its frequent rail diesel engine and respectable off-road efficiency. The Amarok is simply one of many neat midsize vehicles we don’t get within the U.S., the place pickups aspire to be luxurious automobiles.

Vehicles as soon as embodied the ethos of “it’s simply me and all my shit” greater than every other car kind. For misanthropes like me — preferring driving in solitude ensconced in a tiny cabin — small vehicles have been the bee’s knees. Put a canine in that bench seat and also you had a cheerful household. However that’s not the case anymore now that vehicles are profitable and widespread automobiles that sellers make massive earnings on.

The small single cabs that propelled Toyota to the fore and made the Tacoma and Hilux legendary began out as workaday machines. And older examples stay endearing as a result of their easy development. The Ford Ranger and the Chevy S10 — and, later, the Colorado — have been a reply from the American OEMs to their Japanese rivals.

The Ford Ranger is now an even bigger, extra refined truck that’ll be offered within the U.S. as a double cab with an computerized transmission. The baton of the truck as we knew it’s now carried by the one cab Rangers that Ford will construct on the Silverton Meeting Plant in South Africa, lots of which can be rebadged as Amaroks.

The one cab VW Amarok has 44 p.c extra cargo room in its mattress than the double cab, in line with Automotive Gross sales AU. The 2-door Amarok is accessible with a 2.0-liter inline-four turbodiesel making 147 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. That engine is mated to a five-speed guide transmission. One other drivetrain with non-obligatory AWD can also be out there, and it makes 168 hp and 299 lb-ft of torque regardless of nonetheless being a 2.0-liter inline-four turbodiesel. This one’s mated to a six-speed stick. The truck is at present offered in its native South Africa, however it’s unclear if it’ll be offered in South America. Ford has one other Ranger meeting plant in Argentina, which VW may leverage for higher gross sales of its new single cab truck.