Volkswagen Tarok concept tests the lifestyle pickup waters in New York

Volkswagen brought its Tarok concept to the New York auto show, previewing a unibody pickup that has already been greenlit for production — just not in the U.S. First shown at the Sao Paulo international motor show a few months ago, the Tarok made its way to New York to gauge interest in a large four-door "lifestyle" pickup, a segment currently ruled by the Honda Ridgeline.

The Tarok features a folding rear seat that extends the cargo capacity of the bed, while an aluminum Targa-style bar wraps the C-pillar. An expansive opening roof lets plenty of sun into the interior, but the roof still features rails, ready to haul large items.

On the outside, the Tarok resembles recent MQB-platform siblings like the Atlas SUV, which went on sale in the States just over a year ago. The concept features a long wheelbase of 117.7 inches but relatively short overhangs. Overall, the truck is 193.5 inches long, making it just a few inches shorter than the Atlas, which measures 198.3 inches in length.

"The width of the load area between the wheel arches is 42.9 inches, with a bed length of 47.5 inches with the tailgate in place," Volkswagen says. "Drop the tailgate, and the load area is extended by 27.4 inches. Opening or folding the door to the cabin and folding the rear seats extends the load area by another 25.8 inches. Payload is 2,271 pounds."

If you're expecting something beefy underhood to match the exterior proportions, the Tarok may offer a bit of a surprise: It is powered by a 1.4-liter TSI four-cylinder producing 147 hp, paired with a six-speed automatic sending power to all four wheels thanks to 4Motion all-wheel drive. Why the small engine? The production version of the Tarok is aimed at South America at the moment, where large gas engines are a bit of a rarity.

The interior, meanwhile, is a slightly more spartan version of the Atlas, but modern enough with a wide 9.2-inch Infotainment system and the Volkswagen Digital Cockpit. A rotary knob just south of the shifter offers Offroad and Custom Offroad profiles, in addition to Onroad and Snow. A number of Onroad driving settings are also on the menu.

"The Tarok concept design shows a close relationship with other Volkswagen SUVs, such as the Atlas and the new T-Cross," Volkswagen said. "It has a tall hood, horizontal bars in the grille that run into the headlights, and LED headlights and Daytime Running Lights. Tarok also gets an underbody skid plate and a roof and A-pillars finished in gloss black."

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