Photo: Volkswagen
Seeing as the number one spot in worldwide sales was stolen this year by Toyota by a smudge, Volkswagen is apparently preparing a huge offensive on more than one front in the US. It might not be connected to the sales war that is going on right now but good news await for fans of the brand on the North American continent.
In a recent interview at the Detroit auto show earlier this month, Michael Horn, CEO of Volkswagen USA said that the company he is representing might introduce a new van to the US market.
That leaves us with two choices: the Caddy or the Crafter. Out of the German companies out there that are also selling commercial vans in the US, Mercedes stands out with its Sprinter model. However, the Volkswagen group has a similar offering on its table in Europe, namely the Crafter.
The two are actually built on the same platform and VW is basically getting its Crafter models from Mercedes that has been building them too per an agreement between the two companies. The problem is, this agreement ends next year so this might not be the model Horn was talking about.
Instead, he could’ve been hinting at the Caddy, a smaller commercial van that is pretty successful in the EU. Unlike its bigger brother, this one is based on the proprietary MQB platform and could be built with no problem whatsoever.
“We’re studying this, and personally I believe we should do something based on the technology which we already have in this market,” Horn told reporters during a roundtable at the Detroit auto show.
In the meantime, the company will be focusing on increasing their SUV offensive in the country, starting with the Tiguan and a midsize model that could make an appearance in 2017, to be built in the US.
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