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Vw to expand its U.S. lineup with two new models

tryme submitted on 8/14/2009 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 8:25:48 PM

17 user comments | Category: New Cars | Source: | SOURCE: www.4wheelsnews.com

Seemingly realizing that it has neglected the North American market, Volkswagen is now looking to expand its product lineup in the US with at least two new models.

Volkswagen of America CEO Stefan Jacoby said that future plans include new compact model, a larger mid-sized passenger car and a new $4 billion assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The compact car would be built at VW’s plant in Mexico while the new mid-sized model would be produced at the new plant in the U.S. Jacoby said that the Passat is too small for the mid-sized sedan segment and that the brand would need something larger for North American drivers. VW is said to be considering bringing models such as the Polo and the Tiguan to the US.

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Vw to expand its U.S. lineup with two new models

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tryme

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User Comments

rxh8me9000

Just bring the Sciracco.

— rxh8me9000 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/15/2009 4:30:06 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

Enforcement

I don't think the Passat is too small, just overpriced.

— Enforcement (View Profile)

Posted on 8/15/2009 9:13:44 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

huu76

Isn't the Tiguan already available in N.America?

Yeah, Passat is way overpriced. Not sure where the Jetta/Passat will fit in if they bring a larger sedan over.
Polo will be a mistake since it'll be destined to be overpriced and compared to a Prius and Yaris (and perhaps future Yaris hybrid), it won't stand a chance.

VW, like Hyundai, has a habit of leaving out features you expect to be included.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/15/2009 2:41:41 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

HyundaiSmoke

The larger Sedan is the Phaeton smart guy. VW has moved upmarket, and they have a cult following. Like a VW buyer will even consider a lowly Yaris, huu?

VW is also working on a Polo Hybrid as well.

— HyundaiSmoke (View Profile)

Posted on 8/15/2009 6:53:22 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

huu76

Guess you were still living under a rock when the Phaeton came to N.America the first time smart guy.

As Hyundai is doing now, just because VW claims to be upmarket doesn't make it so. Otherwise, the $100,000 Phaeton wouldn't have run back to Europe with its tail tucked between its legs.

Phaeton was a good car, just born under the wrong name during Germany's ignorance at the turn of the century.

That's nice that VW is working on a hybrid, Toyota/Lexus already has 7 that you can go out and and buy right now.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 12:47:28 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

huu76

btw, VW only has a cult following in N.America. Most people here don't realize VW is just as plain and vanilla in Europe as people paint Toyota to be.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 12:48:51 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

elduderion

Its funny to read your comments. They are so clearly baised against German cars that you will even comment what you 'think' as fact.

I'm from Europe (as in actually born there, and have lived there for most my life) and can tell you that VW has a following in Europe which Toyota will never, because as a European car freak, the general setiment over there is Toyota build appliances and VW builds cars.

Why don't you look at the sales figures of models for individual countries? In most part of Eastern Europe, they only buy German cars.

Toyota makes more reliable cars, but I will never buy an appliance. I've nothing against Jap/Korean cars (unlike some users here who so clearly HATE anything but), but I'm not ignorant enough to discount them as complete pieces of crap, simply because they don't do it for me.

— elduderion (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 9:32:59 PM | | Votes: 1   

HyundaiSmoke

Yeah, but Europeans have no taste in Cars either. They perfer style as opposed to cars that are fit to make incontenetal journeys.

Toyota may have seven hybrids, but every last one of them are overpiced, for the content of the actual car. Companies like VW and Hyundai were conservative and smart enough to wait to see if the Hybrid thing was going to be a fad, before puming in Billions of dollars into Hybrids.

Hyundai is the worlds leader in LPG Technology and Hydrogen Fuel Cells.

VW is the worlds leader in Diesels.

Hyundai has some pretty good diesels themselves, and WV has tinkered with enough Hydrogen Fuel Tech to not make them a lightweight.

My Point is Hyundai/KIA, and VW/Audi are conservative about Tech. They wait until something is popular and then put it in their cars. When they put it in they run the ball with it. Most of their drivers including myself are conservative about tech as well.

VW has great interiors, Hyundai has great reliablity. Since we at Hyundai have stolen about 30% of Audis design team, except the Genesis Coupe interior to be the new Hyundai standard, and expect the Soul's interior to be the standard for KIA.

By the way VW stole a couple of our engineers, its showing in their cars in terms of improved reliablity.

— HyundaiSmoke (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 1:27:01 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

HyundaiSmoke

intercontinental

— HyundaiSmoke (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 1:27:32 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

HyundaiSmoke

I have a feeling we are going to be working with VW soon enough, like you guys at Toyota work with GM. Hey Mercedes has become our small car engine tech test bed

(we design and build the motor Mercedes uses it in their cars for a couple of years once they are tried and true we put them in our cars, Hey look at Mercedes much improved relaiblity ratings since working with us),

and BMW is going to be testing our computer tech soon enough as well.

— HyundaiSmoke (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 1:33:03 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

huu76

I highly doubt it, I think its because Hyundai offered the cheapest parts. Its all about lowest price and cutting corners with the Germans and Koreans.

If Hyundai/Kia is conservative about technology, why do their commercials always brag about how much technology their cars have that everybody else already uses?

The Germans weren't concerned about technology, they wanted to milk as much money out of diesels as possible. Now that Toyota's technology has advanced so much, it too difficult for them to con people into paying more for diesels that do less. So now they're following the industry leader down the hybrid path.

VW lead in hydrogen fuel cells? I'd like you to prove that.

Prius is overpriced? What's the Jetta TDI then considering to get the same safety options puts the Jetta at the same price as the Prius. Camry hybrid is the same price as a midlevel Camry V6 but with tons of technology and better mileage, how is that overpriced?
If anyone has the money to make hybrids affordable, Toyota does. If anything is overpriced, its the German cars who don't offer anything for the extra $$$ they charge.

The Lupo 3L had to be axed because it wasn't profitable enough, and that's using VW's existing dinosaur diesel technology. What makes you think a Hybrid Polo will suddenly rake in the money for VW?

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 10:43:10 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

Heyhuub

The Lupo 3L was axed because it was an expensive green car in a time when nobody wanted a green car, same story with the Audi A2.

— Heyhuub (View Profile)

Posted on 8/17/2009 3:57:51 AM | | Votes: 2   

valhallakey

I would like to see the Polo GTI with it's twincharger engine and the bluesport make it here. No competition to either really exists so they both might do real well.

— valhallakey (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 12:07:00 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

HyundaiSmoke

We dotn brag about Tech everyone else uses? Since when huu?

— HyundaiSmoke (View Profile)

Posted on 8/16/2009 9:12:51 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

huu76

How about bragging that bluetooth or mp3 adapters or push button start or voice activation are available.
Its enough to make you forget the car doesn't have useless things like curtain airbags, knee airbags or rear stabilizer bars.

On a side note, I never realized how much english Hyundai and Kia use in their home market commercials, both visual and spoken. You'd almost think Korea was the newest member of the EU. Contrast that with Toyota who uses one or two printed words and l/km while everything else is in Japanese.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/17/2009 8:10:34 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

huu76

heyhuub,
I can't find the original PopMechanics article that highlighted and explained why the Lupo 3L got killed, but here's a TDI fan forum that basically repeats VW couldn't make enough profit so they said the hell with the env't.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=254221

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 8/17/2009 8:12:33 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

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