VW to float midsize pickup concept in New York

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen is considering a jump into the midsize pickup segment with a U.S.-made truck that could be built in Tennessee, sources familiar with the matter told Automotive News.

The pickup, a derivative of the Atlas large crossover, is expected to be introduced on Wednesday at the New York auto show as a surprise concept alongside a new coupe-styled variant of the Atlas already scheduled for production.

A VW spokesman declined to comment on the concept vehicle.

Volkswagen brand officials want to strengthen sales in regions such as the U.S. with more product designed for local tastes. It also plans to launch a new compact crossover for the U.S. market in 2020 based not on the sportier T-Roc sold in Europe but on the beefier "Powerful Family SUV" concept shown on Friday in Beijing.

U.S. consumers are increasingly shifting to light trucks -- notably crossovers, SUVs and pickups -- prompting automakers to dramatically retool product plans and in some cases, pare unprofitable car models from their lineups. Ford Motor Co. says an expanded light-truck lineup will account for 86 percent of its U.S. sales volume by 2020, up sharply from about 70 percent today.

In the U.S. last year, light trucks accounted for just nearly 23 percent of the VW brand's sales, compared with 64 percent for the overall light-vehicle market, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Ending chronic financial losses in the U.S. is a key part of Volkswagen brand CEO Herbert Diess' 2025 plan to turn around a unit struggling with low profitability and still marred by fallout from widespread diesel emissions violations. Last year, the VW brand paid out 13.8 billion euros ($17.05 billion) to settle fines, claims and other costs relating to the emissions scandal.

If the pickup concept receives positive reviews during the New York show, it could go into production relatively soon and would be built at VW's Tennessee assembly plant, sources said. No German brand offers a pickup in the U.S. and Mercedes-Benz has decided for now not to sell a production version of the midsize X-Class in the U.S. because of cost and image concerns, among other reasons.

"Diess has supported it from a very early phase in the project," one VW official, who declined to be named because the plans are not yet public, said about the planned pickup.