- Volkswagen CEO ‘will not rule out’ a pickup truck.
- The compact and mid-size truck segments are ripe for extra competitors, for the reason that full-size market is a tricky spot to crack.
- VW believes a automobile in both section may very well be profitable.
The pickup truck section is a very profitable one in the US. The Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado are seemingly locked in first and second locations within the checklist of bestselling autos.
Naturally, different automakers need their very own slices of that profitable pie. On the 2026 New York Auto Present, Hyundai reiterated its pledge to construct a midsize, body-on-frame pickup for the US market by 2030. On the similar present, Volkswagen Group of America’s CEO stated he “wouldn’t rule out” the thought of a pickup.
Requested about VW’s previous pickup ideas at a media roundtable, CEO Kjell Gruner had this to say:
‘After all, if a market is that measurement, you’ll be able to’t simply say, I will ignore it, and we do not. So after all, we have a look at that. We have a look at C-pickup, B-pickup, et cetera. You understand, how are these segments growing? And I would not wish to rule it out in any respect… a pickup truck just isn’t dominated out.’
It’s attention-grabbing that Gruner particularly talked about B- and C-segment pickups, that are sometimes unibody and will leverage VW Group’s current MQB structure. Present opponents on this class embrace the Ford Maverick and Ram Rampage, which isn’t accessible stateside. There’s additionally Hyundai’s Santa Cruz, which goes out of production this yr. The sphere is predicted to develop quickly, with Slate’s barebones Truck getting into at a supposed $25,000 worth level.
VW’s 2019 Tarok idea previewed a transfer on this path, and it plans to provide the Tukan for the South American market beginning subsequent yr.
A measurement class up, the unibody Honda Ridgeline spars with the extra historically trucklike Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado, and Toyota Tacoma. A brand new Ram Dakota is predicted to affix the fray subsequent yr, and Subaru has hinted at a new Baja. Volkswagen has proven off ideas on this class earlier than, most just lately the Atlas Tanoak idea in 2018.
Requested whether or not a brand new pickup can be unibody or body-on-frame, VW Group’s American CEO stated “each could be profitable” and it is determined by the appliance:
‘It relies upon a bit what we wish to do with it, as a result of body-on-frame helps, after all, if you wish to go extra off highway and rugged, versus on-road positioning [with] unibody. Additionally, you may leverage current unibody platforms. So… they’ve execs and cons. There’s not one clear-cut answer.’
Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak Idea
An MQB-based unibody truck can be most probably, as VW doesn’t have any body-on-frame platforms on the prepared. As for what would energy a VW pickup truck, it’s probably a model of the model’s longstanding EA888 2.0-liter 4-cylinder, with or with out a hybrid enhance. It will probably be produced in Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, meeting plant to keep away from hefty tariffs.
Gruner declined to say whether or not any future Volkswagen pickup can be associated to Scout’s providing, noting solely that they’re “separate firms [with] separate product selections.”
Motor1’s Take: Volkswagen hasn’t offered a pickup truck within the US for the reason that Rabbit Pickup (generally known as the Caddy internationally) left manufacturing in 1984. It has offered the mid-size Amarok internationally since 2010, however it might be nice to see the model re-enter the North American pickup market.
