A familiar American vehicle segment could become Volkswagen\u2019s next major bet, with an existing industry partner potentially helping bring the plan to life.<\/p>\n
According to a source within the company, Volkswagen intends to overhaul its strategy in the U.S. market, appoint a new leader and introduce an updated lineup that will include a pickup truck.<\/p>\n
Marco Schubert, formerly head of sales at premium brand Audi, is moving to the U.S. to replace Kjell Gruner, who is leaving the company.<\/p>\n
The company declined to comment on the plans.<\/p>\n
RADICAL RESTRUCTURING OF PLANS<\/p>\n
In response to rising costs and intensifying competition from China, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has begun reviewing the group\u2019s structure. The controlling families have increased pressure on stakeholders, supporting management\u2019s efforts toward radical restructuring.<\/p>\n
Thomas Schaefer, head of the Volkswagen brand, sees growth opportunities in pickups and large SUVs \u2013 two high-margin categories with strong demand in the U.S. that the company currently does not offer.<\/p>\n
According to the source, the goal is to launch the first pickup by the end of the decade; the vehicle is planned to be built in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where production of the electric ID.4 was halted earlier this year following changes to U.S. electric-vehicle incentives.<\/p>\n
However, the U.S. market remains attractive for sales of pickup trucks and SUVs with internal-combustion engines: Ford and General Motors have raised their profit forecasts for 2026.<\/p>\n
Pickup trucks accounted for nearly 20% of U.S. passenger-vehicle sales last year, according to Cox Automotive.<\/p>\n
This category is dominated by large, rugged pickups, primarily from Ford, GM and Stellantis\u2019 Ram brand.<\/p>\n
Last year, these larger pickups cost an average of around $70,000, Cox reports.<\/p>\n
FORD CONSIDERED A POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIP CANDIDATE<\/p>\n
It is not yet known whether Volkswagen will develop the new pickup on its own or in cooperation with another manufacturer, the company source said. A decision is expected in the coming weeks and months.<\/p>\n
Ford is being considered as a potential partner because of Volkswagen\u2019s existing partnership with the U.S. automaker.<\/p>\n
Ford uses the MEB electric-vehicle platform in its Explorer and Capri models, which are built in Cologne, Germany.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen\u2019s Amarok pickup, built in South Africa, shares a platform with the Ford Ranger.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen is currently not a major player in the U.S. market, with a share of around 4%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A familiar American vehicle segment could become Volkswagen\u2019s next major bet, with an existing industry partner potentially helping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20947],"tags":[51141,42405,42,51142,5356,35759,51143,51144],"class_list":["post-68666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-volkswagen","tag-ford-partnership","tag-marco-schubert","tag-news","tag-us-auto-market","tag-volkswagen","tag-volkswagen-amarok","tag-volkswagen-pickup-truck","tag-volkswagen-us-strategy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}