Volkswagen Won't Quit the U.S. Consumer, Because Love is Stronger Than Diesel

They’re on a little break right now, but Volkswagen plans to saunter back to America’s door, flowers and chocolates in hand.

As the diesel emissions scandal plods along to its buyback conclusion, the automaker plans to woo U.S. buyers with desirable products and a less confusing brand strategy, Automotive News reports.

Volkswagen brand chief Herbert Diess told reporters in Germany last week that the U.S. was still a target market primed for growth, but first the company must convince those buyers that it has changed its ways, and that it’s ready for commitment.

“We believe that the USA has in fact the greatest potential for Volkswagen worldwide in the next decade,” Diess said, adding, “naturally not in the near future, since we are starting from zero in the U.S.”

To counter a sales slide, Volkswagen is planning a portfolio stocked with the SUVs and crossovers Americans love, and which happen to be very lucrative. An American-built three-row SUV and a midsize SUV similar to the T-Prime concept are among the products planned for the U.S. market, but that’s just part of the strategy.

The brand spent a good part of the last decade confusing buyers on what type of company it really was — premium, plebeian, a little of both? — so that needs to be worked out.

Diess wants to position Volkswagen as the go-to brand of the “aspirational middle class,” which seems to mean middle class people who simply want more. There’s some on every street.

What form that repositioning will take, or how the automaker will avoid stepping on the toes of its premium brands, remains to be seen. Diess said a decision on the strategy will come in June.

As Volkswagen sleeps on its friend’s couch in the U.S., about half of the company’s $18.2 billion scandal fund will be spent buying back or fixing nearly half a million U.S. diesel models, as well as settling (or dodging) lawsuits and funding environment initiatives.

[Image: Volkswagen of America]