Volkswagen defends absence of key safety tech on certain Amarok variants

Volkswagen Australia has defended its decision to not include key safety technology on every model across the new Amarok range – and, in effect, has put a price on the safety of toddlers in driveways and motorcyclists in adjacent lanes.

Despite positioning the new Volkswagen Amarok as a premium alternative to the Ford Ranger on which it is based – and a step above other utes – the two most affordable versions of the new-generation pick-up lack safety tech that is now considered the bare minimum, and which is standard on cheaper rivals. 

Even though rear cross-traffic alert and blind-zone warning are standard on all variants of the new Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 – from the cheapest to the dearest – Volkswagen has chosen to not include the potentially life-saving technology across the new Amarok range.

Blind-zone warning is a potential life-saver for motorcyclists and other motorists because it alerts the driver if they are about to change lanes into the path of another vehicle.

Rear cross-traffic alert – which detects human movement behind the vehicle when it is reversing – is a potential life-saver for pedestrians in car parks and toddlers in driveways.

Volkswagen has not fitted this technology to its two most affordable models – the Amarok Core manual and Amarok Core automatic – even though the same systems are fitted to $29,990 examples of the basic "traffic controller" Isuzu D-Max ute (pictured above).

Rear autonomous emergency braking is standard on even the most basic versions of the new Volkswagen Amarok, though it lacks the additional benefit of rear cross-traffic detection and alert (which monitors the movement of pedestrians, cyclists and passing cars).

Blind spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert was once exclusive to high-end luxury cars, but has increasingly been fitted as standard on more affordable vehicles for at least half a decade.

It is highly unusual for an all-new, premium-priced vehicle to lack safety technology that is now considered the bare minimum.

Nathan Johnson, the head of product planning for Volkswagen commercial vehicles, whose department selects what features to include and exclude on future models, told Australian media blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are under review for next year's Amarok update.

“We’re evaluating everything for MY24 (model-year 2024),” said Mr Johnson. “It’s something we need to speak to the factory (about).”

The rest of the new Volkswagen Amarok range has a long list of advanced safety technology as standard. A five-star safety rating was awarded to the vehicle last month.

When pressed further on the absence of blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert on the two cheapest models in the new Amarok range, the head of Volkswagen Australia commercial vehicles, Ryan Davies, told Drive:

“We looked at each model line and what we could conceivably package to make it an attractive overall offering. That’s where we landed at the end of the day. Where you land is not where you stay.

“It's what we believe is the right package to go to market with now, and then we'll reassess. Typically, the volume is sold in the higher mix of cars and the vast majority sold will have all the features.”