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VW Bullish on U.S. Market in Spite of Diesel Fiasco
Volkswagen AG says the U.S. car market holds more growth potential for its VW brand than any other in the world—after the company overcomes its diesel emission scandal.
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Volkswagen AG says the U.S. car market holds more growth potential for its VW brand than any other in the world—after the company overcomes its diesel emission scandal.
“We are starting from zero,” concedes VW brand leader Herbert Diess. But he tells reporters the brand has a strong dealer network and can expand with the help of new products and a fresh strategy that sharpens VW’s position in the America market.
Diess says VW will target the “aspirational middle class.” But settling on a plan to do so isn’t likely until mid-year, a source tells Automotive News Europe. A first priority will be setting a group strategy that minimizes sales poaching among the company’s 12 brands.
VW sales in the U.S. surged to 438,100 units in 2012, and the brand hoped to reach 800,000 units by 2018. But sales have declined each year since then, and the target was abandoned. Last year the brand sold 349,400 vehicles in the U.S., down 5% in a market that expanded 6%. VW's dealers told the company in March they needed combined volume of 500,000 units to remain healthy.
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