Volkswagen has some work to do for its brand on the US car market and in plans to expand beyond the Passat, Jetta and Beetle models, reports have emerged that it might expand its production and build the Volkswagen Tiguan on US soil. That’s one model that makes a lot of sense for us.

The new Volkswagen Chattanooga plant in Tennesse will build the Volkswagen Passat US model, and could make room for the Tiguan as well. More local US production of VW models is required to achieve the ambitious target of one million unit sales of Audis and VWs in the US.

The Volkswagen Tiguan could get to production either in Tennessee or at the Pueblo plant in Mexico where the Jetta and Beetle are assembled. If US Tiguan production starts, it could go ahead in 2013. It’s no secret that the Tiguan is a popular SUV around the world and the US could benefit from local production of both the restyled and the future next-generation model, too.

Source | Wirtschafts Woche via WorldCarFans

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The new Volkswagen Jetta in the US has received a highly critical review from the US Consumer Reports publication, which placed the model at the bottom of a list of 11 compact sedans reviewed. While the Jetta came back to the US as a smaller and more affordable model, according to the review that has come at too high a cost to the car itself.

The overall verdict of the Volkswagen Jetta is that it is “a shadow of the agile, well-finished car it once was”. That’s a pretty damning statement, but the detail is that more affordable price means the interior and suspension has been sacrificed. Director of the testing centre, David Champion, says: “In an effort to bring the car’s starting price down, VW cheapened the previous Jetta’s interior and suspension, making it less sophisticated and compromising handling.”

Volkswagen Jetta sales in the US don’t seem to reflect the same findings, meaning that the strategy to go less premium and sell more is working. While that will be handy as part of Volkswagen’s ongoing strategy to become the world’s number one car manufacturer, we wonder if a review like this and what it says about VW tactics, won’t come back to bite in the future.

Source | Autoblog.com

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