Volkswagen Amarok Canyon rolls into town

VOLKSWAGEN Australia has announced a limited edition version of its Amarok dual-cab ute called the Canyon, designed to tackle the likes of Ford’ s Ranger Wildtrak.

Limited to only 200 units this year, the Canyon variants command a $6000 premium over the TDI400 manual and TDI420 eight-speed auto Highline versions on which they are based.

This means the 120kW/400Nm 2.0-litre TDI400 with a six-speed manual gearbox costs $56,990 plus on-road costs, while the 132kW/420Nm TDI420 with an eight-speed auto costs $59,990.

While the Canyon you see here is a little toned down from the concept shown in 2012 — for instance, the roof-mounted spot-lights are no more — the Canyon nevertheless gets some beefy body upgrades.

These include black bar-work, 17-inch ‘Roca' alloy wheels with Pirelli Scorpion AT-R tyres, what VW calls an “impact and UV-resistant” load area coating in the tray, tinted tail-lights and special ‘Canyon’ rear and side decals.

Standard equipment includes satellite navigation and reversing camera and two-tone Nappa leather interior with orange stitching.

The Amarok Canyon special edition is available now in a choice of four colours, including Candy White and metallic colours Deep Black and Reflex Silver. Adding a final distinguishing feature is the exclusive Copper Orange metallic colour, unique to the Canyon.

Volkswagen Australia is on a bit of a hot streak with the Amarok. While 4x4 ute sales are down 14.0 per cent overall due to weakened fleet demand, Amarok sales are up 56.7 per cent.

Last week, VW Australia managing director John White told GoAuto that the company still saw sales upside beyond its current figures (1788 4x4 sales this year, for 6.2 per cent market share, compared to the Toyota HiLux with 6262 sales and 21.8 per cent share).