VW Will Sell Small SUV In U.S. By 2016, May Be Built At Chattanooga
Volkswagen intends to sell a subcompact SUV in the United States by 2016 and there is a strong possibility that the vehicle will be assembled at VW’s Chattanooga, Tennessee facility. Marc Trahan, executive vice president of VW of America, told reporters at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit.
Alternatively, the SUV could be produced in Mexico. The decision will be made in Wolfsburg. Trahan said that decision would be made by the end of the year. “For me, the answer is obvious, but we have to go through a pretty deliberative decision-making process,” Trahan said. “Additional product will go in [the Chattanooga plant]. It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when and what.” VW has shown the Taigun, a small SUV concept that will go on sale in developing markets in 2016, but the automaker has previously indicated that it won’t be sold in North America.
Growth in the U.S. market is critical to VW’s plans to become the largest car company in the world and VW has expanded the Chattanooga facility to meet that growth. Trahan declined to comment on the UAW’s efforts to represent workers at the Tennessee facility.
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The new SUV is supposed to slot in between the Tiguan and Touareg...which right now has a pretty hefty $20K difference in starting price so probably a good choice. I know it will also be 3 rows...so maybe something that competes more directly with a Pilot level of car.
Don't know why they need to compete in this class. Looks like the VW answer to the Nissan Juke, nicer-looking but to me, Juke-like. Let's build a more-affordable Tiguan, maybe just a little more loot than a CX-5 or Escape, but push the fact that it's VW-quality.
We've beaten this size/class/category thing to death and keep missing the obvious characteristic of all these CUV/SUV vehicles. That characteristic is sales. They all sell and sell well because they have one thing the automakers refuse to openly acknowledge. Cars are a dying breed which has been reflected in sales numbers over the last 20 years. CUV/SUV vehicles main attribute is utility. Package that with some comfort, ride height, ease of ingress/egress, throw in a touch of decent gas mileage and touch of quality and you have a sales winner. The automakers create a plethora of sizes, shapes, and configurations for the ever increasingly fickle American taste buds and sell millions of these rascals. The competition is very keen and no matter the size and capitalization of the companies making them, something different will always attract that new buyer. The current focus seems to be packaging more passengers and utility into smaller platforms. So Mini, Fiat, Nissan, and Mitsu are leading the way with their new sardine can versions. Small wonder VW is talking about a new smaller footprint vehicle to bring here. Since their main goal is to become #1 worldwide, no one should be surprised that they don't want to surrender that small sliver of sales to anyone. Vive la difference!!
This thing closely resembles the '74 to '79 Honda Civic CVCC coupe, but on silly 17" wheels. Not much sporting about it, or utility, either, for that matter. Ah, VW, we already had a first-generation Toyota RAV4. You're a little late to the party.