Volkswagen has no plans of launching a rival to the likes of the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick.
The German automaker has flirted with the idea of launching a lifestyle-oriented compact pickup truck in recent years, unveiling concepts like the Tanoak and Tarok. Now, with Ford and Hyundai entering this segment, it could be the perfect time for VW to get on in the action. However, it’s not going to happen, VW North America executive vice president for sales and marketing Duncas Movassaghi told Auto News.
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Speaking with the publication, Movassaghi said launching a new ICE pickup truck is out of the question given the company’s electrification push.
“Our priority within the Volkswagen brand is to keep our existing [internal combustion-engined based] vehicles competitive,” and to expand the battery-electric vehicle lineup, Movassaghi said. “Investing at this time into a niche ICE [compact pickup] segment would not make sense for us. As we transform our lineup to BEV, an electric pickup could for sure be an option.”
According to Autotrader executive analyst Michelle Krebs, VW would be wise to launch an electric pickup truck in the future.
“VW is still in rebuilding mode from Dieselgate, so they need to focus on building out vehicles that they have,” Krebs said, adding that compact pickups “will do well” and for VW “bringing a small electric pickup truck to the market might make sense in the future. We know from our survey work that there is some interest in electric pickups, and a small EV pickup could make sense, especially for young California buyers.”
