In the USA and other countries, pick-up trucks have been regarded as practical as well as quite cool for many decades. In Germany, Volkswagen was one of the pioneers for this vehicle type with the Caddy and later on with the Taro. The real lifestyle breakthrough only came in 2010, however, when the VW Amarok was introduced, based on the “Robust Pickup” study. In contrast to its predecessors, the “newbie” was definitely no longer a meek commercial vehicle but, depending on the engine version, could also show some muscle. In their home country, the USA, pick-ups cannot have enough power. So we have given the Amarok some extra horsepower: depending on the version, we coax up to 306 HP (225 kW) and 630 Nm from the diesel engines. That's almost 50 hp more compared to the serial car.

Also for the 3.0 TDI with 224 hp (165 kW) and 550 Nm there is an extra portion of power. The additional control unit ABT Engine Control gets 265 hp (195 kW) and 590 Nm out of the diesel engine.