Volkswagen Overhauls US Strategy: New Leadership and a US-Built Pick-Up on the Table

Volkswagen is planning a comprehensive overhaul of its US strategy, combining new management with a revised product lineup that includes a pick-up truck. Marco Schubert, formerly Head of Sales at Audi, will relocate to the US to replace Kjell Gruner, who is leaving the company.

A High-Margin Gap in the Lineup

The commercial logic is hard to ignore. Pick-ups accounted for nearly a fifth of all US vehicle sales last year, and average sticker prices for large pick-up models in the US approach US$70,000. Volkswagen currently holds just 4% of the US market—a figure it has repeatedly tried and failed to lift to 10%.

"Volkswagen Brand Chief Thomas Schäfer sees growth opportunities specifically in pick-ups and large SUVs."

Volkswagen offers no product in either segment today.

Platform Decision Still Open

The goal is to bring the first pick-up to market before the end of the decade, built domestically in the US rather than imported. Two development paths are under consideration: an in-house vehicle on Volkswagen's MQB Evo platform—shared with the Atlas SUV—or an expanded partnership with Ford, whose Ranger already shares a platform with Volkswagen's Amarok, built in South Africa.

The manufacturing question is equally unresolved. Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has had a difficult year, losing the ID.4 production line and now building only Atlas models. Whether Chattanooga can accommodate the still-unconfirmed pick-up platform may prove decisive in where production ultimately lands; Ford's Michigan operations are an alternative if the partnership route is chosen.

Affordability Pressure Complicates Pricing

The timing is awkward.

A Global Reallocation Pattern

The US rethink sits alongside a broader manufacturing review: Volkswagen is considering bringing China-developed models to Europe for the first time, potentially including the ID.Era 9X, a range-extender SUV developed with SAIC, or building similar models at sites such as Zwickau.

"Lower Saxony's state premier Olaf Lies—who also sits on Volkswagen's supervisory board—has publicly backed the idea as a way to stabilise plant utilisation at struggling German sites."