Ford’s PHEV tech for Ranger could conceivably be an easy transfer into VW’s rig and the NZ distributor was interested. Germany? Not so much.

POTENTIAL the ‘other’ kind of Ranger sold here, the type out of Volkswagen, could also uptake a new plug-in hybrid drivetrain that’s gone into the Blue Oval model has become a semantic.

The Amarok that’s now a doppelgänger to the largest Ranger also comes off the production line in South Africa that specifically creates Ford’s PHEV (whereas other Rangers come here from Thailand).

That close relationship, the common production process and both having identical T6 underpinnings raised interest from Volkswagen New Zealand Commercials.

It was also clearly in the minds of those at VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, as they signed off a concept, albeit presenting as an all-electric, called ID.Ruggdzz.

Thought expressed by the NZ distributor several months ago was that if Ford’s new drivetrain - which promises up to 45 kilometres’ electric driving, the best economy, the lowest CO2 count and the most torque from any current Ranger engine - could be shared to Amarok, it’d be interesting in weighing up a business case.

So much would depend on how well the PHEV system was accepted by Ford buyers, Kevin Richards, VW Commercials NZ general manager said.

In the meantime, he was not unhappy to sit back and see how Ford went with the drivetrain.

“You always want things first because it's exciting and it's new, but sometimes being late to the party means you can turn up and see what everybody else is wearing,” Richards quipped in June.

“For me, seeing what Ford can do is no bad thing.”

The battery-assisted model being based on exactly the same underpinning as Amarok and solely made in the same factory in South Africa from which the NZ-market VW ute arrives.

Those factors would be highly useful in supporting any technical feasibility, Richards says.

At that time there seemed no chance for Amarok having the battery drivetrain just now.

“These decisions are made at group level and we’ haven’t heard anything,” he said then.

“Those decisions are far removed from my area of responsibility, but my vote would be that should the opportunity arise to investigate a plug-in hybrid, we would be remiss not to look at it.”

This week it appears the idea has been kiboshed completely by Wolfsburg.

According to reports, VW has killed off any idea of delivering any form of electrification to the Amarok in its current format.

“Yeah, this is not on the cards right now,” Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles global CEO Stefan Mecha was quoted as relating when asked if the current-generation Amarok will be electrified at some point.

“As I said, no. At this stage, no. This depends on the market. I think today, it’s good that we still focus on the combustion engine, but also, this segment will convert. We are looking into this, but again, not for the near-term future, I think it will take a little bit.”

“We are looking into both PHEV and BEV for the Amarok in the future and currently see the greater opportunities in BEV, but no formal decision has been made yet,” a Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles spokesperson said in a separate statement.

The website Ford Authority said the electrified Ranger is currently facing weaker than anticipated demand, to point the factory has scaled back production somewhat.

Ranger has been a strong seller in NZ, but registrations counts are not broken down into variant performances, so it is challenging to relate how PHEV has been selling since release in July. For now, the drivetrain is mainly represented by the Stormtrak, with a smattering of Wildtraks also in the mix. Both are aimed more at recreational drivers. The workforce-attuned XLT has yet to consign to NZ.