---
title: "Volkswagen May Show a Pickup Truck Concept in New York"
description: "The unibody truck would reportedly be based on the Atlas platform."
date: "2018-03-26"
modified: "2018-03-26"
authors:
  - name: "Justin Hughes"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/justin-hughes"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/19633/volkswagen-may-show-a-pickup-truck-concept-in-new-york"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "concept car"
  - "Concept Cars"
  - "Midsize Pickup"
  - "NYIAS"
  - "Volkswagen"
---

# Volkswagen May Show a Pickup Truck Concept in New York

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/12/jetta-ute-hauling-wood.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

In what seems to be another step in Volkswagen's progress toward [understanding American tastes](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/9114/the-volkswagen-atlas-shows-vw-may-finally-be-starting-to-get-americans>), *Automotive News* reports that we may see [a pickup truck concept](<https://www.autonews.com/article/20180325/OEM04/180329729/vw-to-float-midsize-pickup-concept-in-new-york>) for the first time this week at the New York International Auto Show.

This mid-sized truck would reportedly be based on the Atlas platform, like [the five-passenger Atlas](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/19409/volkswagen-will-build-a-five-passenger-atlas>) already confirmed to be revealed in New York. It would be built alongside the five and seven-passenger versions of the Atlas in VW's Chattanooga, Tennessee factory. This would not only allow for easy part-sharing with its platform-mates but also bypass [the 25 percent "Chicken Tax"](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/7158/american-trucks-rule-thanks-to-the-chicken-tax>) on imported trucks by building them in the U.S.

The Atlas-based pickup is not to be confused with the Amarok, a pickup truck that VW has sold elsewhere in the world for years. While the Amarok is a traditional body-on-frame pickup, this new one would be of a unibody design, similar to the [Honda Ridgeline](<https://thestore.thedrive.com/>), and the classic Rabbit Pickup built here in the early 1980s.

A pickup by Volkswagen would add to an increasing variety of mid-size pickups available in the U.S. It would join the existing offerings from [Chevrolet](<https://thestore.thedrive.com/>), [GMC](<https://thestore.thedrive.com/>), [Toyota](<https://thestore.thedrive.com/>), [Nissan](<https://thestore.thedrive.com/>), and Honda, as well as [the upcoming Ford Ranger](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/17663/ford-reveals-the-2019-ranger-at-north-american-international-auto-show>). Since [Mercedes decided not to bring us the X-Class](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/8183/mercedes-explains-why-the-x-class-pickup-wont-come-to-us>), the VW would be the sole German offering in America.

It's unlikely that the niche popularity of [Smyth Performance ute kits](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/10459/smyth-performance-will-turn-anything-into-a-ute>) for older unibody Volkswagens had anything to do with its thought process on possibly building a modern version of one. However, [the Atlas is an excellent platform](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/8934/2018-volkswagen-atlas-takes-on-the-world-7-first-impressions>), and the [conversion process](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/16930/best-project-car-of-2017-volkswagen-jetta-smyth-performance-ute>) from an SUV to a pickup truck is definitely feasible, as the Honda Pilot-based Ridgeline has shown. We look forward to seeing what, if anything, VW has to offer.

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