Volkswagen Amaroks Birdsville's Big Red Bash

Rockin' the Simpson since 2013, the Big Red Bash is Australia's most remote music festival situated more than 1,500km west of Brisbane near the intersection of Queensland, South Australia and Northern Territory. To celebrate 10 years of the Bash what a better place to launch the All-New Amarok.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has been the proud sponsor of the Big Red Bash since 2015. The Big Red Bash ran from the 4th – 6th July 2023. Every year Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle hosts owners in a VIP camp site with a prime location near the action and a display area to showcase the latest products to the public.

This year the festival also doubled as Australia's most remote test drive experience, as 130 customers test drove the all-new Amarok across 'little Red' – the desert sibling to the famous Big Red in the Simpson Desert – and beyond.

Just getting there this year meant blazing a trail through a once in generation rainbomb that turned the arid outback into a red mud sea.

Over the 4,000km expedition circuiting the Simpson Desert, the Amaroks faced both road closures and just-reopened trails that included over 100km of constant mud.

The expedition started in Broken Hill before moving up through the Sturt National Park into Queenland along the Warry Gate road to Eromanga and finally to Windorah. The last stretch, on drenched and just-opened tracks, was from Windorah to Birdsville stopping off at the infamous Betoota Hotel.

One owner of another brand’s ute was given the world's longest test drive. When his own vehicle failed to proceed, Volkswagen provided an Amarok to drive the 2,077km back home to Sydney. This was a 6,000 kays on the clock for that 'Rok.

Illustrating the toughness of the second-generation Amarok – four years in development between Volkswagen's Melbourne-based team and Hannover, Germany – the fleet of 'Roks surged through liquid outback bog.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles marketing and product national manager Nathan Johnson said the combination of Amarok's classic toughness, V6 power and iconic seats made the long journey to Birdsville a breeze.

"We wanted to show real Australians, families towing caravans and exploring the outback to the fullest, the depth of engineering in our Australian designed second-generation Amarok," Mr Johnson said.

"The all-new Amarok is the direct result of taking Australians' feedback on board and creating a ute born from tough love delivered by our dual-cab ute-loving market – our Volkswagen ute's biggest worldwide," he said.

Volkswagen continues to sponsor the Big Red Bash and are currently on their way to rock the plains the Mundi Mundi Bash, located near Broken Hill, which this year was home to Icehouse, John Williamson, Hoodoo Gurus, Human Nature, Pete Murray, The Angels, Troy Cassar-Daley, Kate Ceberano, Wendy Matthews and more.