Green light for VW’S ‘electric Microbus’
VOLKSWAGEN boss Herbert Diess has confirmed that the company will put a Microbus-style production car based on the I.D. Buzz concept into production.
VW has been considering a successor to the original Microbus for years. It will be VW’S third EV model as part of the I.D. family. Diess told us: “Emotional cars are very important for the brand. We are selling loads of Beetles still. But we will also have the Microbus, which we have recently decided we will build.”
ELSEWHERE at Hyundai, the Korean brand is planning to give its new Kona SUV a baby brother, as well as launching a larger model than the Santa Fe, as it looks to expand its off-roader line-up.
Speaking at the reveal of the Kona in Seoul, Hyundai’s vice-chairman Chung Euisun announced that the company would extend its SUV range further over the next three years. “We have analysed the needs of our customers in Los Angeles and other cosmopolitan cities,” Chung said. “As you know, the SUV segment is reaching saturation but we believe there’s greater potential for growth in the B-segment.”
He added: “Our plan is to come up with an A-segment SUV – smaller than Kona – by 2020, and so we want to embrace from A-segment to E-segment. We’re also planning to roll out an E-segment SUV that’s bigger than Santa Fe. We want our line-up to reflect our customers’ needs.”
It’s likely that Hyundai’s European and UK divisions would consider selling a smaller SUV, while a car larger than the Santa Fe would probably be restricted to markets such as North America.