We've lost count of the number of hints and rumours regarding the possible arrival of a Volkswagen pickup truck for the U.S. and Canada. Those have proven unfounded to date - VW still doesn’t have one in its lineup here.
There’s speculation anew this week, however, and this time the source is, well, the company itself.
Speaking with media at the New York Auto Show, Kjell Gruner, president and CEO of the Volkswagen Group of America, hinted that a pickup truck is on the company's list of possibilities regarding future models it could offer in the American market.
Over the years, Volkswagen has unveiled several pickup truck concepts, notably the Atlas Tanoak in 2018 and the Tarok the following year. These gave credence to the possibility of a VW pickup competing in North America one day. But nothing materialized at the time.
Evidently, the subject is still a live one at company HQ. “It's one of the growth options we're discussing. It's a discussion we're having this year,” said Gruner, although he stressed that no official decision has been made.
He added this interesting point:
"We need to find synergies with other vehicles we have on the market, from a platform and manufacturing standpoint, to make it viable,"
So we could anticipate a pickup based on an existing product, like the Atlas. If the company were to go down this path, it would be following a route already traced by Honda, for example, with its Ridgeline.
Gruner explained that a proposed pickup wouldn't necessarily have to be assembled on a ladder frame chassis. He also suggested that a model would probably offer an electric configuration, but with a gasoline engine and range extender, tasked with recharging the battery while driving.
He believes that's what consumers would want.
We can see from his comments that the idea has not only been discussed at Volkswagen, but studied. It remains to be seen whether the company will finally decide to take action regarding a pickup truck for our market.