What is Volkswagen teasing in this Twitter post? German HQ uploaded a 27-second clip to the blue bird channel, the clip’s opening captioned with an injunction to turn the “Sound On.” What do you get for activating your speakers? Practically nothing but the sound of tires crunching over snow, which means this is either a battery-electric product or a plug-in hybrid with pure EV driving range. The chunky-ish tires and the snowbound environs lead us to believe this will be something on the rugged side. The VW logo on the wheel center cap informs us this isn’t a preview of the coming Scout. And our eyes might deceive us, but when the vehicle makes a left turn, it sure looks like the camera lingers on the rear wheel just long enough to reveal some rear-wheel steering.
Coming soon…! Stay tuned! 🙌🔝 pic.twitter.com/2bSfPuc9Rw
— Volkswagen News (@volkswagen) February 10, 2023
Whatever it is wears the full-width front light bar known from VW’s electric vehicles, but that design element is much more prominent here and doesn’t appear to meet the headlights in the same way. It looks a touch lower on the front fascia, as if leaving room for a grille. Perhaps this is another clue to VW prepping something more rugged.
Volkswagen’s SVP of product marketing and strategy and the VW CEO of America told us at the Chicago Auto Show last week the brand is trying to get a pickup to the U.S., and it would either be electric or PHEV. However, VW’s not expected to make a decision on that until the end of this year in preparation for a potential launch around 2026. There have also been rumors about a battery electric Amarok for years, and VW execs at the second-gen pickup’s launch two months ago said a PHEV Amarok is under consideration. The Touareg SUV already offers a PHEV powertrain and there’s a new generation not far away, but any connection to this tease is just as speculative as the rest. However — and maybe we’re getting too CSI with this — the headlights in the closing overhead shot don’t appear to match either the current Amarok or Touareg. So, as the Twitter tease says, “Stay tuned.”
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