The Americanization of Volkswagen Won't Skip Brand's Electric Hippie Bus, Crossover

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

In the wake of Volkswagen Group’s diesel emissions scandal, VW turned its attention to electric vehicles. Yup, EVs, and many, many crossovers. Can’t forget those.

At the time, building the brand’s future EVs in America seemed like the right thing to do — good PR, and good penance for its dirty crimes. The plan’s still a go, as VW’s Chattanooga assembly plant has plenty of excess capacity, but it’s now focused on two particular models.

Those models would be the most commodious of VW’s planned I.D. electric family: the I.D. Crozz (crossover) and I.D. Buzz (Microbus), due to launch after the I.D. hatchback. The latter model, not slated for sale in the U.S., makes its appearance next year as a 2020 model.

The Crozz and Buzz are definitely America-bound, and Chattanooga-bound, as well. Speaking to Autocar, Volkswagen’s North American boss, Hinrich Woebcken, said local production of these models is crucial. They’ll also roll off the assembly line outfitted to appeal to U.S. buyers’ tastes, he added.

“For strong product momentum, they need to be produced in the USA,” said North America boss Hinrich Woebcken. “It’s not possible to come into a high-volume scenario with imported cars. We want to localise electric mobility in the US.”

The Crozz is expected to launch in the U.S. in 2020, with production of the Buzz (hopefully, these vehicle all gain new names) commencing in 2022.

Before any electric vehicle emerges into the Tennessee sunlight, VW first plans to add another crossover to its stable. As the automaker announced back in March, a shorter, sportier version of the three-row Atlas will appear in 2019, built alongside its larger sibling and the Passat. There’s no name pinned down for the new model just yet.

[Image: Volkswagen]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Darex Darex on Jul 19, 2018

    If VW is pinning its hopes on either of these niche vehicles, they're even more out-of-touch than I previously thought! And still, no Polo for YOU! ‍♂️

  • USAFMech USAFMech on Jul 20, 2018

    Help me Steph. "The latter model, not slated for sale in the U.S., makes its appearance next year as a 2020 model. The Crozz and Buzz are definitely America-bound, and Chattanooga-bound, as well." The Buzz is not going on sale in the US, but it's bound for the US, and Chattanooga? I can't even.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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