Looks like the peoples’ cars will be high-riding.
When the bosses at Volkswagen decide on a strategy, or a heading for its cars, it follows through on those plans at full-speed. In light of the continued popularity of high-riding crossovers and SUVs, the German automotive goliath has announced that it will have no less than nineteen SUVs on sale globally by 2020.
Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess spoke on the matter at its 2017 ‘Annual Session’ saying, “By 2020, we will expand our worldwide SUV model portfolio from two to nineteen.” With ten new models slated for this year, and the continued expansion of VW’s ‘ID’ electric vehicle lineup (albeit currently in concept form), it might not be as lofty a dream as it initially seems.
This year will see the introduction of the Atlas large SUV for North America, the Arteon (the successor to the CC) globally, the extended-wheelbase Tiguan Allspace (also a seven-seater), as well as a revised version of the up! small car for Latin America. June will see the debut of the Polo compact car (which we caught undisguised here), followed by the similarly-sized T-Roc SUV in August. The Chinese-market Phideon saloon will also gain a plug-in hybrid variant that month.
Before the end of 2017, we’ll see the arrival of the all-new Touareg SUV, an all-new Jetta saloon, as well as a ‘Virtus’ compact saloon for South America. To arrive at the magic number 19, Volkswagen may employ some clever classification: Different nameplates could end up being counted as different cars (like the North American Atlas and the Chinese-market Teramont, and the standard Tiguan vs. the lengthened Tiguan Allspace). Volkswagen’s fervour of offering region-specific models should also allow them to easily make good on its promise.
The VW boss also hammered in the marque’s continued efforts to move away from diesel vehicles in the wake of the Dieselgate saga, with its strong push towards EVs in the form of its ID concept cars built off its new MEB scaleable electric vehicle platform. By 2025, the company wants to see no less than a million of its electric vehicles out on the road, stressed further with Diess saying the “brand’s success hinges on its strategic reorientation.”
You can read our previous articles on Wolfsburg’s electric offensive here. And for more information on Volkswagen, check out our Showroom.
