Volkswagen brand chief vows to boost SUVs sales, US market share

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee: A top executive of German auto maker Volkswagen AG said the company expects to boost its sport-utility vehicle sales sharply by 2020 and will move to add electric vehicle offerings in the wake of its diesel emissions cheating scandal.

Herbert Diess, who heads the mass market Volkswagen brand, said the world’s largest carmaker by sales expects SUVs to account for 40 per cent of its global sales, up from less than 15 per cent today.

Volkswagen is building about 400 Atlas SUVs a day at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant, or a pace of about 100,000 per year, but will eventually be able to build 800 a day, the plant manager, Antonio Pinto, said.

Volkswagen has been shifting its focus in the US from marketing compact cars and midsize sedans to promoting larger, US-built SUVs such as the Atlas.

“SUVs will drive our business worldwide because SUVs are becoming very important worldwide,” Diess said.

He said the Chattanooga plant has room to grow and suggested the company could eventually add electric vehicle production in Tennessee.

The VW brand in the US currently has just a 1.9 per cent market share, and Diess would like to eventually get to five per cent market share or more.

“We can’t win US over in two years time,” he said. “It’s a 10year plan.”

VW US brand sales are up about six per cent through July to 188,000 vehicles. — Reuters