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Automotive Industry

New Vw Eurovan Set For U.S - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Feb, 2000 by Marjorie Sorge

Volkswagen's EuroVan successor, off the T5 platform, will come to the United States, Jens Neumann, member of the management board tells AI. "There will be a EuroVan successor. I don't know how it will do in the States," he says. The vehicle will be built in Hanover, Germany. It will be more like a sport-utility than a van and debut around 2002, close to the introduction of the VW/Porsche sport-utility. The sport-utility may appeal more to Americans, Neumann says, but VW will bring the EuroVan here anyway. It does well in Germany, where VW has a 42% share of that market. VW sold about 2,000 EuroVans here in 1999 and Neumann says that could double with the successor.

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Neumann remains interested in reviving the popular Micobus of the 1960s but studies done over the last two years show that the flat nose simply won't meet crash standards. "The dream cannot be realized due to legislation and our own standards of safety," he says. "There will be no Microbus without a flat nose." A New Beetle convertible done by Karmann comes out in 2002 and there will be a 1.8L turbo engine for the Golf and Jetta, as well as a new high-powered GTI. Built in Pueblo, Mexico, the convertible should result in incremental sales, Neumann says.

An assembly plant will not be built in the United States unless VW introduces a new model for this market that fills a 200,000-capacity operation. That's unlikely any time soon. If Golf and Jetta sales grow in this market, the Puebla plant can be expanded. If VW develops a new B- or C-sized platform it could share it with Audi, but a VW plant in Brazil could use that volume.

Automotive Industry

New Vw Eurovan Set For U.S - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Feb, 2000 by Marjorie Sorge

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