While there are strong elements in the Amarok’s design that links it to the Ranger, particularly the top-spec Ranger Raptor, Volkswagen says it will be “clearly different in design.”

“It’s not going to be just a fantastic pickup. It’s going to be a genuine Volkswagen too—with clear DNA in both technology and design,” VW Commercial Vehicles CEO Carsten Intra said. “It will be exactly what our [Volkswagen] customers would want,” he followed.

The all-new Amarok will be launched in 2022, with development and assembly done by Ford, particularly at its Silvertown, South African manufacturing plant. Recently, Ford invested around USD one billion to raise its annual capacity to 200,000 units, while also improving the quality of its assembly.

The partnership between Ford and Volkswagen on its pickup trucks is part of a bigger collaboration between the new car brands.

Ford and VW announced a strategic partnership in 2019. The tie-up also includes plans for Ford to engineer and build a new VW Transporter van alongside its next Transit Custom van, with production starting in 2023 in Turkey.

Meanwhile, VW will build a new compact van for both companies based on the new VW Caddy, which went on sale at the end of last year. The Ford version will launch next year. VW’s plant in Poznan, Poland, will build both vans.

Volkswagen ended production of the Amarok at its Hanover plant in Germany last year. The factory is being retooled to build the ID Buzz—a modern, full-electric version of VW’s 1960’s Type II microbus.

Ford is using VW’s MEB electric platform to build EVs at its plant in Cologne, Germany. Ford said last month that its passenger car fleet in Europe will become all-electric by 2030.