Volkswagen Names Forthcoming Pickup Truck 'Amarok'

The new Volkswagen 1-tonne pickup truck that was revealed as a concept study at last year's Hannover show and is due to be launched in international markets as early as 2010, is to be called 'Amarok'. According to VW, the name means to 'wolf' in the language of the Inuit who live in northern Canada and Greenland, while in the Latin languages spoken in the major markets of Brazil and Argentina, it translates to "he loves stones".

"This name fits the characteristics of our pickup perfectly, which will set new standards in its class," said Stephan Schaller, CEO of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. "We took great care selecting this name, which can be used globally and is meant to invoke positive associations in all relevant international markets. The Amarok is a powerful and robust vehicle with great stamina – just like the wolf," he added.

Developed from a clean sheet of paper, the Amarok will be offered initially as a double-cab pickup with four-wheel drive, while a single-cab version will be introduced at a later date. Volkswagen said that power will come from a new generation of fuel-efficient and clean common rail turbo diesel engines.

The Amarok will be produced at VW's Pacheco plant near Buenos Aires in Argentina with the first examples hitting showrooms in South America in early 2010, followed by Central America in Spring 2010, then Russia and Europe in the summer, as well as Africa and Australia. VW has stated that it does not plan to sell the Amarok in North America.