VW Working on Seven-Seat SUV for the States

Volkswagen is reportedly working on a brand new project that would be especially addressed to the United States and would come in the form of a new SUV. The guys over at AutoExpress claim that the German manufacturer prepares a seven-seat SUV that's likely to be cheaper than the Touareg and could be produced at the company's new production facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, together with the Passat unveiled at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Nobody from within Volkswagen commented on the report and we can't really know for sure if there's some truth behind it, especially because Jonathan Browning, Volkswagen Group of America CEO, recently said that new projects are unlikely. The company intends to concentrate on the existing lineup, with the new Passat and the Jetta supposed to drive its sales forward in the United States.

"We've got a pretty broad lineup today, so we are very much focused on more deeply penetrating the segments we're in," Browning told the Automotive News World Congress. "Somewhere along the way, frankly, we lost our bearings in this market and we failed to build on that emotional equity and became more of a marginal brand."

Furthermore, Browning said the German manufacturer will try to concentrate on six different areas in order to reach its sales goal of 800,000 units by 2018 in the US: products, quality, customer experience, brand development, dealer networks and used-car performance.

The new Passat will go on sale in the US later this year and will be produced in Chattanooga, with three different trim levels to be offered. Pricing information will be disclosed at a later date.