Skoda Amarok ute spinoff “unfortunately” not coming

"I think I would love it personally"

Skoda will not offer a ute as part of its range, despite having an ideal basis to build such a vehicle in the form of the Volkswagen Amarok.

Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer told Wheels at IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich that while the Czech brand wants to offer lifestyle-friendly products such as SUVs and wagons, a ute isn’t part of the plan.

“I think I would love it personally,” said Mr Zellmer, before saying the VW Amarok is the vehicle to do that job for the VW Group.

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Skoda Mountiaq concept revealed in 2019

“We've got the Amarok – and I think Amarok is doing pretty well in Australia,” he said. “What I hear from my colleagues in Commercial Vehicles, it's a big market – but no, this is not part of our ballgame, our portfolio. Unfortunately not.”

Mr Zellmer said the company wants to ensure that it has its own place under the Group umbrella, with a range of value-focused petrol-powered models, EVs for those who want them, along with a range of SUVs and hatches, sedans and wagons.

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“We want to spread horizontally to increase our footprint in the market and cover big audiences, and not step on each other's feet all the time,” he said.

Volkswagen’s launch year for the new-generation Amarok has been solid so far, with the German brand’s South-African-made ute range having accounted for 3049 sales to the end of August - small in comparison to the Ranger (5760 in August) and HiLux (5762 in August).