VW Outlines SUV-Driven Plan to Hike Sales in U.S.

Volkswagen AG says it will become a “relevant volume player” in the U.S. market over the next 10 years by expanding its lineup of SUV/crossover vehicles.

VW currently controls less than 2% of the U.S. passenger vehicle market. Herbert Diess, who heads the brand worldwide, tells reporters the company aims to achieve a 5% share in a decade, mainly by expanding its lineup of crossover models.

VW offers three such vehicles, including the Atlas large SUV it began producing earlier this year in Chattanooga, Tenn. That crossover, developed specifically for the American market, went on sale in May.

VW has said it will add a fourth crossover in the U.S. by 2020 as part of a global strategy to update or launch 19 SUV/crossovers by then. Diess says the company is still deciding whether to bring its just-launched subcompact T-Roc model to the U.S.

In any case, he concedes, VW won’t be able to climb out of its niche status in the U.S. market and become a higher-volume seller in less that a decade. Such success has thwarted the company for years, with dealers complaining VW has been largely tone deaf to the tastes and pricing demands of the U.S. market.

VW has said it expects 25% of its sales worldwide will be crossover models by 2020 compared with less than 15% today. But even that target may be too modest. Some analysts have predicted that SUV/crossovers eventually will capture 40% of the global passenger vehicle market.