VW News: Volkswagen NA CEO: 40 Percent of Model Mix Will Be Made of Crossovers Within A Few Years

[William Maley]

Volkswagen sees crossovers as its savior in the U.S. marketplace. Speaking with Wards Auto, Volkswagen North America CEO Hinrich Woebcken said their model mix would change from 10 to 12 percent crossovers to 40 percent in the next few years. 

“We are shifting the brand into a position where we will enjoy more business volume because we were not present in those segments. We’re currently at 12% and the industry is nearly 60% light trucks and SUVs, so we are severely underrepresented,” said Woebcken.

To accomplish this, Volkswagen will be launching the brand-new Altas and redesign Tiguan later this year. Interestingly, Volkswagen will keep the current Tiguan for a bit to act as an entry-level model for the crossover lineup. Down the road, Volkswagen will introduce an all-new Touraeg and is considering doing another crossover using the Atlas' platform.

One vehicle that is still off the table is a truck. Rumors have been flying around about Volkswagen doing a car-based pickup (i.e. Honda Ridgeline). Woebcken said there is little interest for this at Volkswagen's HQ due to how small the segment is. 

Source: Wards Auto

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[G. David Felt]

Be interesting to see how much of the market they can grab being so late to the party? 

[smk4565]

Only 40% ???  

[Frisky Dingo]

Well, this is a no-brainer. If you want sustainability as a mainstream maker, this is a necessity. They better get something smaller than the new Tiguan out stat! Also, pony up and give us a damn Amarok already!!

 

On a realted note, I get to go drive the new Atlas next week

[Drew Dowdell]

Everyone really wants tall station wagons, but no one wants to admit it. 

[G. David Felt]

5 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Everyone really wants tall station wagons, but no one wants to admit it. 

Can I get mine with rubber fender flairs and tall 36" BF Goodrich All terrains, low end lockers. I loved my Old Station wagon that we lifted.

[ocnblu]

2 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Can I get mine with rubber fender flairs and tall 36" BF Goodrich All terrains, low end lockers. I loved my Old Station wagon that we lifted.

No, sorry.  It will be 4 mini-spares, electric motors and solar panels on the roof.

[G. David Felt]

Just now, ocnblu said:

No, sorry.  It will be 4 mini-spares, electric motors and solar panels on the roof.

 I knew you had a good sense of humor!  

[ocnblu]

 

[regfootball]

I was at the auto show last night and touched ! The atlas. There was a crowd of first baby urbanites milling about it. It looks in person ok but it also looks confused. Is it a Subaru Forester XL or Honda Pilot in drag?  Dude opened the doors for a bit and the interior looks Passat Jetta cheap as well. 

 

It it did look roomy and space efficient. Give it credit for that. 

[Drew Dowdell]

The interior is the biggest let down on the Atlas

[Frisky Dingo]

13 minutes ago, regfootball said:

I was at the auto show last night and touched ! The atlas. There was a crowd of first baby urbanites milling about it. It looks in person ok but it also looks confused. Is it a Subaru Forester XL or Honda Pilot in drag?  Dude opened the doors for a bit and the interior looks Passat Jetta cheap as well. 

 

It it did look roomy and space efficient. Give it credit for that. 

Now this is just funny, because the Passat's interior is anything but cheap. The fit and finish is among the best in the class. Just more evidence of people mistaking over the top styling and design for quality. 

[Drew Dowdell]

Eh... the plastic on the door panels is just this side of tupperware.  The HVAC controls in particular were from Fisher Price, only not that solid.  (The Atlas, not the Passat. It's been awhile since I've been in a Passat).  It was all put together really well, but the material quality isn't what I'd expect on a vehicle that will likely sell primarily in the mid-$30k range.  Some competing vehicles that have been on the market for years or are just now going out of production have better material quality than what this new Atlas is getting. 

[G. David Felt]

But But But America Loves Tupperware, it is part of the Make America Great focus!

JK, But that is a sad state that today we still have auto's that are using such piss poor quality of materials.

Surprised a vendor has not just sprayed the whole interior with LineX and called it a day.

[Frisky Dingo]

On 3/18/2017 at 11:07 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

Eh... the plastic on the door panels is just this side of tupperware.  The HVAC controls in particular were from Fisher Price, only not that solid.  (The Atlas, not the Passat. It's been awhile since I've been in a Passat).  It was all put together really well, but the material quality isn't what I'd expect on a vehicle that will likely sell primarily in the mid-$30k range.  Some competing vehicles that have been on the market for years or are just now going out of production have better material quality than what this new Atlas is getting. 

Plenty of other vehicles in this class have loads of hard plastic in them. This is nothing new. And they all have their own shortcomings, as well.

[Drew Dowdell]

6 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

Plenty of other vehicles in this class have loads of hard plastic in them. This is nothing new. And they all have their own shortcomings, as well.

Yes, I'm aware there are no perfect cars.  I'm saying that the Atlas in particular was a let down on material quality especially given the levels we've come to expect from VW in the past. While the show car I was in was well put together, the whole thing felt over a decade old in materials all over. The outgoing Chevy Traverse, which I would never point to as a standard by which to do things, has much better feeling material quality than the Atlas, particularly around the switchgear and HVAC controls.   And that's the rub, the Atlas is already behind an old Chevy I don't particularly like and that is about to be replaced. 

[Frisky Dingo]

On 3/20/2017 at 11:19 AM, Drew Dowdell said:

Yes, I'm aware there are no perfect cars.  I'm saying that the Atlas in particular was a let down on material quality especially given the levels we've come to expect from VW in the past. While the show car I was in was well put together, the whole thing felt over a decade old in materials all over. The outgoing Chevy Traverse, which I would never point to as a standard by which to do things, has much better feeling material quality than the Atlas, particularly around the switchgear and HVAC controls.   And that's the rub, the Atlas is already behind an old Chevy I don't particularly like and that is about to be replaced. 

Lol, the materials in the Traverse are NOT better than the Atlas. Not by a long shot. That's just comical.

The dash trim on the higher models is where the biggest criticism can be levied against the Atlas. The center stack and console areas are as good as or better than the rest of the class I've been in. Which is everything but the new Koreans.

[Drew Dowdell]

Just now, Frisky Dingo said:

Lol, the materials in the Traverse are NOT better than the Atlas. Not by a long shot. That's just comical.

The dash trim on the higher models is where the biggest criticism can be levied against the Atlas. The center stack and console areas are as good as or better than the rest of the class I've been in. Which is everything but the new Koreans.

HVAC controls and other switchgear... yeah.. it is. The Traverse has really nice dials, metal ring with rubber grips and electroluminescent numbers for the HVAC. The Atlas has flat silver plastic and they don't have a solid feel to them.   The Atlas has hard plastic on the lower dash, fine, so does the Traverse... but then VW also covered the entire inner door panel with the same stuff.  The Traverse, at least for the front seats, has a padded foam material for the upper part of the door and then the hard plastic only at the map pockets at the bottom.  The Traverse upper dash pad is hard plastic, but then the face of it is stitched material... the Atlas is all plastic face and dash upper (though I think you can get a stitched dash cover on upper trims)

 

[Frisky Dingo]

The Atlas has no more hard plastic on the door panels than the Traverse. The actual switch gear being better on the Traverse I will give you, but the upper dash material is not nicer. It doesn't have anymore soft touch materials than the Atlas. Also, the area immediately surrounding the infotainment screen is cheaper looking, with its terrible faux wood finish. Same thing the Atlas is guilty of on the dash and door panel. And the overall fit and finish is worse on the Traverse. I've seen more instances than I can count of flimsy interior pieces breaking off and coming loose in Lambdas. Especially around the seats and floor.

[Drew Dowdell]

I'm not arguing build quality... the Traverse is a disaster in that regard.