It seems the only way to win the hearts and pockets of American car consumers these days is through SUVs and crossovers, so it’s no surprise that today, VW officially gave the green light for the production of a new mid-size SUV based on the 2013 CrossBlue Concept in Chattanooga.
Volkswagen’s as-of-yet unnamed family hauler, which may compete against the similarly sized Ford Explorer, will be the second model to be produced at the brand’s U.S. plan after the North American Passat, starting from the end of 2016.
The German group said it will invest some US$900 million (€643 million) in the project of which US$600 million (€432 million) will be spent to expand the factory in Tennessee creating about 2,000 additional jobs in the process.
“The Chattanooga-built midsize SUV will allow us to fulfill the wishes of our dealer network, bringing new customers to our showrooms and additional growth for the brand,” commented Michael Horn, CEO of VW Group of America. “We are eager to be entering this growing vehicle segment with a world-class, seven-passenger SUV from Volkswagen.”
The production model will be closely based on the 2013 Detroit Auto Show’s CrossBlue concept that was developed especially for the North American market, but instead of three individual rows of two seats, it will have a traditional 2+3+2 layout.
At 196.3 inches (4,986mm) long, 79.3 inches (2,014mm) wide, and 68.2 inches (1,732mm) tall, the concept is larger than the Touareg and similar in size to the Ford Explorer. However, in regards to pricing, the new SUV will slot between the smaller Tiguan and the more premium Touareg.
In concept guise, the CrossBlue made use of VW’s MQB modular architecture and a hybrid powertrain combining a 190hp 2.0-liter TDI Clean Diesel engine with two electric motors (54-hp front and 114-hp rear) with a total output of 305hp. VW did not share any information on the production car’s engine lineup.
Along with the plant expansion for the SUV, VW said that it will also create a new and independent “National Research & Development and Planning Center of the Volkswagen Group of America for project coordination in the North American market”, which will be staffed by around 200 engineers.
“The objective is to identify customers’ feedback in the market and to integrate them more expeditiously into existing and planned vehicle models,” VW said in a statement.
By John Halas
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