VW Touts Its SUV Sales, But Vows to Stay in Car Market

LOS ANGELES – Despite Volkswagen’s belated arrival to the SUV party, it is making up for lost time, says Scott Keogh, the new CEO of Volkswagen of America.

He adds, however, that the German automaker has no plans to bail out of the car market, despite its waning sales.     

Led by the redone Tiguan and the recently introduced Atlas, VW’s SUV sales went from 18% in 2017 to 46% this year, Keogh says at the Los Angeles auto show.

“We arrived late to the SUV game, but we see our rightful share growing,” Keogh says. 

But he then cites the Jetta compact sedan as a “great entry-level vehicle for young buyers.”

Some automakers, particularly Ford and General Motors, say they are seriously getting out of car segments because of lagging sales compared with SUVs, CUVs and pickup trucks.

Keogh tells journalists VW has no intention of going that route.

“Will the sedan market come back? To its former self, no. Does that mean I want to walk away from the sedan market? There still are opportunities there. There’s still a market for enthusiasts, people who like to sit lower and enjoy and engage more in driving, which you can do more with a sedan.

“The sedan market is shrinking and it’s more challenging. Does that mean I want to 100% walk away from it? Absolutely not. There are ebbs and swings in the business. There was a time when people said the minivan is king.”

He envisions a day when SUVs become so pervasive, “People will say, ‘What’s next? What’s the alternative?’ We’ll stick to sedans but be smart about it. You don’t want to overcook the volume.”  

At the L.A. show, VW unveiled a concept commercial electric panel van dubbed the I.D. Buzz Cargo.

An assortment of battery packs can be fitted into it, proving a range of up to 340 miles (544 km) depending on vehicle usage.

The van has a 201-hp (150-kW) electric motor, a single-speed transmission and rear-wheel drive. However, an all-wheel-drive system is possible in the future by adding a motor at the front.

Features include inductive charging and a solar roof that can extend the range of the vehicle up to 9.3 miles (18.9 km) a day.

The electric van could go into production in 2021 or 2022 “if we see the business case,” Keogh tells Wards. “Getting more into the commercial-vehicle market is a balanced opportunity. You see what’s happening with online shopping. It’s exploding.”

He says 11.7 billion e-commerce packages were shipped in the U.S. last year.

Sharing the auto show stage (but off to the side) is a vintage VW Beetle. The automaker plans to stop making the latest iteration of the iconic car that dates to the 1940s.

Keogh, 49, says he has memories of being from a family of seven that managed to cram into its little Beetle. “That car is near and dear to my heart.”