Volkswagen Plans Market Revival in the U.S.

In recent years, the U.S. automotive market is in a free fall due to the lack of car sales. The situation is so bad mostly because the vast majority of dealerships countrywide could no longer remain open amid the economic crisis.

The current trend is about to change until 2014, at least for Volkswagen, as the German manufacturer is keen on reviving its sales in America. VW has a target of 800,000 units per year by 2018 and they hope to reach it by expanding their dealer-base. The Germans are planning a complete make-over for their 588 U.S. showrooms in order to boost sales with VW CEO Jonathan Browning confirming "radical changes" will be in order as sales really start to take off.

At the moment no one can tell exactly how healthy the States auto industry really is, but VW officials are optimistic and plan to invest some funds into opening new showrooms.

“We’ll need to step up in terms of the dealer count across the country,” Browning said in an interview with Wards Automotive. “But our first focus is very much using the capacity in the existing network,” he added.

Browning talked about some new products and technology during the aforementioned interview (at the Passat launch in Chattanooga) and it seems that a new seven-passenger vehicle will come out of the factory production lanes in the near future. Speculation is that the new vehicle will have something in common with the Bulli concept from the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. Diesel technology will represent the German manufacturer’s 20% overall volume sales in the U.S, or so does Browning claim.

In the past, VW dealers have collectively sold 500,000 vehicles every single year.