A digital artist has created what could turn out to be fairly accurate renders of the new Volkswagen Amarok, using an official sketch as a base.

Earlier in March 2020, VW released the first teaser sketch of the second-generation Amarok, with the fresh-faced bakkie set to be based on the next-gen Ford Ranger.

The German firm showed the sketch at its recent annual media conference, where VW Group chairman Herbert Diess confirmed the “successor to the Amarok” would be the “first fruit” of the firm’s collaboration with Ford.

Now artist Nikita Chuyko has imagined what the production model could look like, publishing the renders on Russian automotive website Kolesa.ru.

The images show the Amarok’s fresh front end, which is dominated by a large grille and an X-shaped motif not dissimilar to that debuted by Mitsubishi’s Triton. There are also new headlamps, boxy wheel arches and more aggressively stamped flanks.

With the Wolfsburg-based firm not yet providing a look at the rear of the bakkie, Chuyko kept things simple round back, adding new taillamps and a fresh tailgate featuring VW’s latest logo.

Of course, VW has signed a contract with Ford for the Blue Oval brand to develop a successor for the Amarok, effectively confirming the bakkie would be based on the next-generation Ranger.

Back in January 2019, the two firms announced the first “formal agreements in a broad alliance” that would include the US brand engineering and building "medium-sized" bakkies "for both companies”. A joint statement back then indicated the first bakkies built under the alliance would hit the market “as early as 2022”, some 12 years after the reveal of the original Amarok.

Original article from Car