Proving Grounds: The Amarok earned its stripes at this year's Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile.
Few things are more American than a pickup truck, and there was a time when Ford and Chevrolet were the only names that mattered to serious truck buyers. What a difference globalization, international competition, U.S. government-sponsored bailouts and punitive tariffs make.
UK-based MotorTransport just named the International Truck of the Year and the winner is VW’s Amarok manufactured right here in Buenos Aires. The Amarok, which took home top honors at last week’s IAA Commercial Truck trade show in Germany, is an international success story.
Four years in the making between Argentina and Germany, built exclusively at the company’s General Pacheco Industrial Center and launched domestically in March, the Amarok is now sold on five continents including some of the most competitive truck markets in Europe, Australia and Africa. One notable exclusion: the United States, thanks in part to anti-diesel legislation and a 25% import tariff which PickupTrucks.com lovingly refers to as “the U.S. chicken tax.”
In developing the Amarok, VW invested over US$400 million and logged over 5 million miles of road tests in some of the world’s most extreme conditions including the 2010 Dakar Rally. Ironic then that the most demanding truck owners in the world can’t get behind the wheel, a fact that’s not sitting well with PickupTruck.com readers. “Thank you, U.S. government,” writes Garrett, while Owen bottom lines it for his truck-loving brethren, “They should bring that truck over to North America. Nuff said.” Â (Full Story)
