Volkswagen To Expand SUV Offerings To Six In Effort To Overtake Toyota

Volkswagen AG is considering tripling the namesake VW brand’s sport-utility vehicle lineup in a bid to overtake Toyota Motor Corp. in global deliveries, two people familiar with the matter said.

The VW marque will offer as many as six SUVs in the coming years, expanding from the midsize Touareg and compact Tiguan currently on sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified in advance of an official announcement.

Demand for SUVs is growing, with the models likely to account for 20.1 percent of global production by 2018 compared with 17.6 percent in 2012, according to consulting company PwC. The VW nameplate’s focus on traditional cars, such as the Golf hatchback and Passat sedan, has in particular held back the brand in the U.S., where rivals have wider SUV offerings.

 

monster - 6/3/2014 9:54:18 AM

+1 Boost

Wow someone is really obsessed with Toyota.

Vette71 - 6/3/2014 10:42:42 AM

+1 Boost

"Considering"? VW seems to "consider" a lot of things for lengthy periods of time when what they really need is fast action. By the time any of these items actually reach the market they will be dated relative to what the competition is offering.

MattDarringer - 6/3/2014 4:53:45 PM

+1 Boost

American dealers have been screaming for VW to actually produce something. VW indeed "considers" too long and when they bring something to the market it is not competitive and it is overpriced for the American market. VW is VERY Eurocentric: "If it's good enough for Germany, it's good enough for the USA." Mercedes--despite being very German--is "marketcentric" (sic) in that it develops products and variations of those products for the markets they sell in. Toyota is very much in the mode of targeting their cars to the individual markets ands reaps the benefits.

MattDarringer - 6/3/2014 4:49:23 PM

+1 Boost

Given that neither the VW Tijuana or the VW Toerag are even remotely competitive, they should try on maybe making ONE comeptitive SUV.