VW Reveals Concept Pick-Up Truck Early, Aims To Save The Seals

Featuring design cues that suggest heavy Chevrolet Avalanche/Honda Ridegline influences, Vee Dub has released preview photos of their new pick-up truck, which isn’t set to officially debut until later this week at the 62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Germany. Scheduled to begin production in Europe in the fall of 2009, VW says their first pick-up truck was not engineered for the casual pick-up enthusiast, but rather tailor-made specifically to accommodate coastal search-and-rescue crews.

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A four-door double cab, the production pick-up will be offered with both diesel or gasoline direct-inject engines and will be equipped with VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drivetrain. Prioritizing function over aesthetic to better suit the purposes for which it was intended, the pick-up truck’s interior will be mostly bare bones. The most “luxurious” accessory is the dash-mounted high-tech navigation system, but will include other understated, useful features like a cab-integrated storage units and a tail-gate embedded tool box that optimizes available bed capacity. Choosing to save the juicer details for the unveiling later this week, VW hasn’t released the pick-up’s name or pricing specifics. What we do know is that VW’s marine rescue vehicle is only intended to service the Europäische rettungsschwimmer, and will initially only be sold to the European market - no word yet on a North American debut.