2021 Volkswagen Amarok W580 dual-cab ute enters production in Clayton

The first examples of the 2021 Volkswagen Amarok W580 ‘grand tourer’ ute have rolled off the production line in Clayton, Victoria.

Described as a passion project between Volkswagen Australia and Walkinshaw Automotive, the Amarok W580 promises to bring improved on-road driving dynamics – along with a more aggressive styling package – to Volkswagen’s flagship ute.

While the 190kW/580Nm 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 and eight-speed automatic transmission remain unchanged, specially-tuned suspension, 20-inch wheels and Pirelli Scorpion tyres alter the Amarok's driving characteristics.

This news comes after the new Amarok W580 completed durability testing earlier this month, and after initial examples were quickly snapped up online.

MORE: 2021 Volkswagen Amarok W580 priced from $71,990

Based on the $61,990 before on-road costs Amarok V6 580 Highline, two Walkinshaw-tuned Amarok variants are available: the W580, priced from $71,990 before on-road costs, and the W580S, priced from $79,990 before on-road costs.

The production facility – situated only minutes away from Volkswagen’s first Australian factory, home to Beetle and Transporter production decades ago – was used recently by Walkinshaw for its Holden Colorado SportsCat project.

The production line is staffed by a team of more than 25 Walkinshaw employees, many of whom were involved in previous Walkinshaw projects tuning locally-manufactured Holden cars and utes.

This W580 project follows an emerging trend in the Australian automotive industry, which has seen small-scale production lines emerge across the country to modify and convert existing utes into new variants and configurations for the Australian market, such as the Premcar-developed Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior, and right-hand-drive conversions of American pick-ups for local roads.

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