Volkswagen is popping Worldwide Harvester’s long-dormant Scout nameplate right into a standalone model to construct body-on-frame off-roaders, however it’s not the primary time the corporate has experimented with the concept of creating a rugged SUV. It launched a Jeep CJ-like mannequin known as Iltis (Kind 183 internally) in 1978, and it launched a sketch of an enormous, Amarok truck-based household hauler that by no means left its design division.
Albert Kirzinger, the top of design for Volkswagen’s Industrial Autos division, revealed the sketch on his LinkedIn web page. He defined that the analysis section took his group “on an off-road journey” and that the SUV was one of many concepts that emerged from it. Tall and decked out with off-roading gear, together with a roof rack and a snorkel-type air consumption system, the mannequin virtually reminds us of a Nissan Xterra.
It does not sound just like the off-roader made it off the drafting board, so technical particulars probably weren’t finalized. It is primarily based on the Amarok, a pickup offered in numerous international markets however that has by no means been accessible in the US, but it shares no styling cues with the first- or second-generation variations of the truck. It will get a tall entrance finish with “AMAROK” on the hood, skinny LED lights, and a grille with honeycomb-shaped inserts. There is a step within the belt line that seemingly integrates the rear door handles and marker lights on the wheel arches.
On our shores, this might have been Volkswagen’s reply to the Toyota 4Runner, although we’re guessing the off-roader would not have ended up in American showrooms had it obtained the proverbial inexperienced gentle for manufacturing. Globally, it will have competed straight in opposition to the Ford Everest (a Ranger-based SUV offered in a number of abroad markets, together with Australia), the Hilux-based Toyota Fortuner, and the D-Max-based Isuzu MU-X, amongst different fashions. It might be a really cool addition to the Volkswagen vary, however nothing suggests it is taking place.