Volkswagen’s crossover and SUV lineup is potent enough as it is. It has the Tiguan and the Atlas here in the U.S. An all-new Volkswagen Touareg is scheduled to debut this year. It’s not coming to America anymore because it’s been replaced by the Altas, but the presence of two SUVs in this market should be enough, right? Well, it’s not, because Volkswagen is planning to introduce two new SUVs in the U.S. by the end of the decade.
The plan to beef up its crossover and SUV offerings in America isn’t news itself. We’ve already known about VW’s plans since last year because it always talked about it. What we did get was confirmation from Volkswagen North America CEO Hinrich Woebcken at the recently concluded Chicago Auto Show. “We will bring another B SUV, another A SUV, besides the Atlas and the Tiguan,” he said. “We easily can bring a second midsize SUV and a second compact SUV into the market.” In other words, “we are doubling up in these strong segments,” Woebcken added.
These comments bring us to what exactly Volkswagen’s plans are. Late last year, the German automaker said that it was planning to build a family of crossovers and SUVs under the “Atlas” name. It didn’t specify anything more than that, but that admission was preceded by trademark applications the automaker made for the names “Atlas Cross Sport” and “Atlas Allsport.” It’s still unclear how Volkswagen plans to use these names, but they do fit into its plans to introduce new Atlas-based crossover and SUV variants into the fold. Volkswagen also applied to trademark the name “Apollo,” which could also turn into a crossover for the U.S. market.
Considering how much activity Volkswagen has had in the U.S. in recent years, it’s difficult to see how it’s going to deal with this crossover and SUV invasion. We do know that neither of the two models will be electric because VW has different plans for that with the 2020 release of the I.D. Crozz.
Regardless of where it is and where it wants to go, it’s clear that Volkswagen is keen on turning a new page in the U.S. To no one’s surprise, it’s using its lineup of current and future crossovers and SUVs to do that.
References
Read our full review on the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas.
Read more Volkswagen news.