Volkswagen is reportedly moving forward with its plans to add a new seven passenger SUV to its lineup after its sales fell seven percent in the U.S. in 2013.
Volkswagen is reportedly moving forward with its plans to add a new seven passenger SUV to its lineup after its sales fell seven percent in the U.S. in 2013. VW may add more SUVs to its lineup that currently only consists of the Tiguan and Touareg in an effort reach its lofty 2018 sales goals.
Last year VW previewed two possible additions to its SUV lineup with the CrossBlue Coupe and CrossBlue Crossover concepts. VW maintains that it hasn’t reached a decision about the CrossBlue SUVs, but it’s being reported that an announcement could come as soon as next week at the Detroit Auto Show.
Some of the reasons that VW’s sales hit a bump last year are that VW’s quality still lags behind other automakers and the fact that many VW’s still do not appeal to U.S. car buyers. Last year VW’s quality rankings were in the bottom third of the industry.
“We’re making good progress (on quality) but there is more work to be done,” VW spokesman Mark Gillies said, adding that warranty claims were falling.
Late last year Jonathan Browning CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, stepped down and has been replaced by Michael Horn who will take over as president and CEO. Horn’s biggest job is going to get VW to build more new models for the U.S. market. “VW executives are so deeply in love with their over-engineered cars that they simply haven’t been taking U.S. customers seriously,” London-based analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said.
Source: VW via Automotive News
