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A new generation of the VW Amarok Walkinshaw performance ute is due in showrooms in 2026, but don't expect Raptor power – and there's no word on a power boost.
The flagship performance version of the latest Volkswagen Amarok – developed in conjunction with Walkinshaw, the former parent company of Holden Special Vehicles – is due in Australia next year.
But it will not borrow the related Ford Ranger Raptor's 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 – and is instead set to draw on an existing engine in the Amarok range, likely the diesel V6 or turbo-petrol four-cylinder.
Volkswagen executives were coy on plans for a power boost, releasing a single teaser of the new ute that is known for now as the 'W-Series', rather than its final designation.
The darkened preview image suggests the first variant off the rank will be a 'GT' road-focused model, judging by the large alloy wheels and sailplane sports bar.
However, an off-road special akin to the outgoing W580X is a strong chance to follow later, as the Walkinshaw program has been initiated two years into the current Amarok's life – rather than two years from the end of the old model's run.
The Amarok W-Series will be shipped from the factory overseas – now a Ford plant in South Africa, rather than VW in Argentina – to Walkinshaw's facilities in Melbourne, where the upgrades will be applied.
It is yet to be confirmed how many vehicles will be produced, but VW executives were open to the suggestion of making the model a permanent variant in the range.
"Our plan this time is go even further than we went before," Walkinshaw Group CEO Ryan Walkinshaw told Australian media.
"The design render you can see behind us is now locked in. Our talented team has been working together behind the scenes to bring it to life, and we'll move into testing throughout the rest of this year.
"What should you expect? Well, everything you'd expect from Walkinshaw products – next-level design, performance and handling."
Visible in the teaser image is a new front bumper with low-mounted driving lights, a fresh grille pattern that includes a light bar connecting the headlamps, and significantly wider wheel-arch flares.
The alloy wheels are new – wrapped in Pirelli Scorpion tyres, visible when the brightness is turned up, as above – plus a sailplane sports bar.
The new W-Series Amarok appears to ride higher than its standard counterpart, though it's unclear how much further off the ground it will sit, or what other changes have been made under the sheet metal.
Most likely to feature under the bonnet is the Amarok's Ford-sourced 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6, which develops 184kW and 600Nm in conjunction with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
It is also possible Volkswagen could offer the 222kW/452Nm 2.3-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine as an option, but the cost of developing it for the vehicle may prove too steep given it accounts for only a fraction of regular Amarok sales.
"It's not the petrol V6. We're not making any announcement as to the powertrain," said VW Australia spokesman Daniel DeGasperi.
Ryan Walkinshaw told Australian media including Drive that launching the tuned Amarok early in the model cycle – rather than near the end – provides more scope to invest in upgrades for the car.
He hinted at a broader range of variants than the previous model, which offered road-focused W580, W580S and W580SE, and off-road-ready W580X grades.
"It does, actually. You're right. There are some opportunities there as well," said Walkinshaw.
"Also, potentially adding a few different variants that we maybe had the ambitions to be able to do last time, which this time with a longer lifespan of the programme, you can invest more money because you've got a longer period to be able to get a return on investment.
"So at the moment, we'll be launching what you see on the screen, but if it makes sense to the market, it makes sense for Volkswagen, we're always open to delivering other variants and other great products to the customers."
Asked if the cost of investing in engine changes – which would be accompanied by another round of emissions tests – is still prohibitive despite the longer life cycle, he said: "I'm not going to talk about engine changes at the moment."
Walkinshaw was coy on whether the vehicle shown is a road- or off-road-focused variant, but hinted there would eventually be demand for both in the new model.
"The GT variant was the highest volume, but actually the response from customers across all three variants that we did was very, very positive.
"And in fact, I believe there were actually a lot of people for the W580X, that were upset there wasn't more in the market to be able to get their hands on.
"So there's a lot of learnings from that initial programme for ourselves and from Volkswagen, and we make sure we do the best job of delivering what everyone wants this time round."
The Walkinshaw Group is building a new 100,000 square-metre facility in Melbourne's south-east due to open from late 2025, which will house its automotive operations, including its ute upgrade programs for manufacturers such as VW and Isuzu.
"At the moment we're running at about 1,000 employees. Depending on the amount of programmes we put into that facility, we're hoping to bring that up to around 1250.
"... We're pretty confident that we've got that facility already full with our current programmes. And going forward, we've got a lot of new work coming in as well."
"We're in the position already where we're looking for new space in other facilities in the surrounding area because we think we might need it. Every single time we get a new production line with a new programme and a new product that we're manufacturing, that obviously leads to new jobs, which is a great story for Australian manufacturing."
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
