Carsales Staff•15 Jul 2014
NEWS
New Volkswagen SUV no go for Oz
Made for America, in America, VW SUV is left-hand drive onlyVW's Aussie arm would like to get its mitts on a new crossover SUV being built in the USA, but with its left-hook design the new model is shaping up to be a non-starter in the short term.
The new SUV will be built alongside the Passat at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant in Tennessee, the company has announced overnight. Worth US $900 million, of which US $600 million will be spent in Tennessee, the project will create 2000 new jobs.
Nominally a 'mid-size' SUV, the as-yet unnamed model will seat seven and has been developed to bring new customers to Volkswagen dealerships in the USA, according to CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, Michael Horn.
"The Chattanooga-built midsize SUV will allow us to fulfil the wishes of our dealer network, bringing new customers to our showrooms and additional growth for the brand," he was quoted saying in a press release.
"We are eager to be entering this growing vehicle segment with a world-class, seven-passenger SUV from Volkswagen."
The production vehicle is based on the CrossBlue concept that made its debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit about 18 months ago. While it's built on the same MQB platform underpinning the Golf small car, the SUV concept sits between the Tiguan and Touareg in size – and as our man Michael Taylor reported at the time, it will go up against the Toyota Highlander, which we know as the Kluger.
Volkswagen Australia has told motoring.com.au that it would like to have the new SUV to sell in Australia, which could be counted on to take market share off the Kluger here too, if it can do it in the USA. Unfortunately, for the moment at least, the new SUV will not be built for right-hand drive markets – including Australia.
Tags
Volkswagen
Car News
Sedan
Family Cars
Written byCarsales Staff
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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