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Volkswagen kills plan for pickup in Europe
High oil prices have snuffed out Volkswagen's plans to build a European-market pickup truck. The vast and versatile loading area of a pickup, while a selling point in the US, is seen by VW as a sales liability on Euro soil. The vehicle's sales potential didn't stand up to analysis by the automaker, which cited oil prices as the culprit for shifting market desires. The Volkswagen Robust is still underway, with the program ramping up to churn 90,000 pickups out of VW's Pacheco, Argentina plant starting in 2009. It looks like Europe will still be graced with funky working vehicles that take the place of our pickups – vive la difference![Source: Forbes]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
LoneWolf 10:31AM (7/06/2008)
Oh how I wish to see some Chevy or Dodge Pickups here - you can take the VW ;)
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Alan 3:50PM (8/20/2008)
You can get any US Pickup or truck from Americanvehicleimporters.com
Alan 11:58AM (8/14/2008)
Yes Dodge pickups are great looking but now Ford have improved theirs.All are available throughout Europe from Americanvehicleimporters.com in Canbridgeshire
Yar 10:34AM (7/06/2008)
Are there any full size pickups available for purchase in Europe? I bet there are some tiny guys, but can you get a Dually Duramax?
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martin 11:09AM (7/06/2008)
nope, ranger, navara and l200 are the biggest ones.
Kitko 11:27AM (7/06/2008)
Nope, we use proper machinery instead of "full sized trucks" on farms, proper off-roads in forests, and proper cars to drive on the roads.
nagmashot 11:28AM (7/06/2008)
thats wrong Martin
You can buy everything in Europe if you want it.. Ford F-650.. no problem.. you get them even tuned..
Geiger Cars in Munic/Germany for example sells the Ford F-650 in europe including a full range of tuning parts..
Dazza 12:19PM (7/06/2008)
Yar: Dodge has sold the Ram in V8 and V10 SRT guise in the UK and select European markets in limited quantities since 2006, but they are official versions sold via dealers. However, they have very recently been delisted from the company's UK website which suggests they may only now be available to special order. For reviews see the link:
[url]http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/dodge[/url]
For a very brief period about five years ago, Ford sold a Europeanised F-150 Classic in some European countries. The F-350 chassis is still available in Europe as the basis for some police and security company vehicles, being the same RHD version sold in Australia.
Chevrolet have not sold their full-sized pick-ups officially in Europe, but did sell the Tahoe and smaller S-10 until 2004-05, again only in a few markets such as Germany and Norway.
Ford's Ranger (international Thai version) and Chevrolet's Colorado and LUV (again, the international Isuzu D-Max Thai-built versions) are both available in Europe, the Chevrolet though in only a few select markets.
MajorGeek 10:56AM (7/06/2008)
I would be curious to see the VW one, but in your list, don't forget Ford, they make a nice pickup as well.
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OOMPH! 11:12AM (7/06/2008)
thank God that imposter Taro is dead...un pure VW
...Das Auto
new Oomph! cd out this summer on Gun records
Aprime 4:45AM (7/07/2008)
I think someone's mistaking VW for Pontiac or something.
Ugh people.
nagmashot 11:20AM (7/06/2008)
There are a lot of full size pick up trucks avaible in europe...
But people in Europe who realy need a usefull pick up truck buy real trucks not such wanna be light trucks sold in the USA..
If you want a light pick up from VW buy a VW Transporter Pritsche or VW Crafter Pritsche.. for every thing more buy a real truck
http://www.volkswagen-nutzfahrzeuge.de/vwcms_publish/etc/medialib/vwcms/virtualmaster/de_vwn/fahrzeuge/transporter/common/wallpaper.Par.0031.Image.jpg
if thats not enough VW offers..
The VW Crafter Pritsche with up to 5to load capability...
http://www.volkswagen-nutzfahrzeuge.de/vwcms_publish/etc/medialib/vwcms/virtualmaster/de_vwn/models/crafter/wallpaper.Par.0006.Image.jpg
http://www.volkswagen-nutzfahrzeuge.de/vwcms_publish/etc/medialib/vwcms/virtualmaster/de_vwn/fahrzeuge/crafter/pritschenwagen.Par.0010.Image.jpg
That are real light truck workhorses..
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Colin Smith 11:23AM (7/06/2008)
Occasionally you see a LOL Dodge truck or similar but these are bought for show and not utility - always chrome and always blacked out windows. They seem to be driven by men with something to prove - dunno what though? They are far too inconveniently big and thirsty to be working vehicles in Europe and the scale off these things is unbelievable next to 'normal' cars. They are interesting though; a friend once dragged me out of his office to show me one parked on the street. He doesn't drive and isn't in the least interested in cars, but the scale of the Dodge did shock him.
There is a market in Europe for smaller Mitsubishi, Nissan and Ford pickups, but always with two litre Diesels. Rain and theft issues make open beds problematic.
In Europe, as in Asia, there are also markets for tiny utility carts for the delivery of wine, bread and such in cities and villages. These are no more than covered three wheeled scooters with a small platform at the back, but they serve a purpose.
Horses for courses.
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nagmashot 11:33AM (7/06/2008)
yeah that is the reason why Toyota offers 4.5l V8 diesel engines in Europe because all buy 2.0 diesel engines...
Colin Smith 1:16PM (7/06/2008)
Land Cruiser maybe. But even sales of these, never huge, are heading south.
American pickups are amazing - like sculpture - but they just don't work in Europe, and in Britain they aren't even available in right hand drive - only as special imports. A few more in Germany I dare say, and Russia, but out in the real marketplace: no.
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MrSuperDuty 1:23PM (7/06/2008)
The fact of the matter is that our American full-size F-150s, Silverados, and Rams are too big for European streets, in both width and length. Full-size pickups work for America because of how the country developed, with streets built in new communities that had individual mass transit in mind, which resulted in wider roads, easier for big trucks to navigate. Another factor is that America has a much larger amount of open land than does Europe, as well as great tracts of undeveloped areas.
As such, America has the room for big vehicles to operate with ease, and for contractors, fleet buyers, small business owners, etc, pickup trucks are considerably more versatile than large vans. They are "jack-of-all-trades" machines, but also are masters of some of these trades, such as towing trailers (something that American businesses do on a much more frequent basis than do their European counterparts). A small business owner in the U.S., with a large pickup like an F-250 Super Duty, can carry a 3,000-lb. load of drywall, tow a 10,000-lb. trailer filled with construction supplies, cover his load with a camper shell if he's worried about theft, and yet can take the top off if he's required to carry more bulky cargo than the top allows (or even a high-roof van would allow), tow his boat or carry his dirtbike on the weekend for some R&R, take his whole family to dinner or to the movies on Sunday night (because he has a large enough cab to do so that is also somewhat comfortable, can't do that in a work van equipped with only two seats in the front), etc. In Europe, these activities could force this business owner to also have to own, fuel, and maintain three or four vehicles. A large van, a small pickup (like a Ranger), a large commercial truck (considerably less fuel efficient than a diesel powered F-250), and a personal use wagon or hatchback (I guess you could also use the Ranger for personal use instead of the hatchback).
You get the idea. Pickups are all about versatility, and if we equipped our big pickups with small diesel engines, they could get similar gas mileage as compared to Europe's big vans while keeping their extra versatility. As I understand it, we will be seeing these small diesel engines in trucks like the F-150, the Silverado, and the Ram within two years, and all three should be capable of about 25 miles per gallon on the highway and about 20 miles per gallon in the city, while being able to haul messy 2,000-lb. payloads, tow a 10,000-lb. trailer, and carry five people in comfort to the worksite, all with just one vehicle.
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Andrew 1:48PM (7/06/2008)
Rubbish! The stereotype that European countries and cities are small and cramped is wrong. There are vast differences between the 47 countries of Europe and it's >500 million people.
The Nordic countries have vast untouched areas and resembles the Mid West, while some of the old cities of the Mediterranean countries are cramped and not made for car traffic. That however does not mean big trucks are not usable in Europe in general.
You suffer under the typical American illusion that Europe is a tiny island of some sort. If you go to Rome some parts that city is hardly made for cars - however even Rome changes and has modern roads and massive highways.
Have you even been to Europe? If not I would like to invite you to Europe and come see for yourself the vast diversity here. You will soon see that Northern Europe is very different from Southern Europe.
MrSuperDuty 4:43PM (7/06/2008)
I myself have never been to Europe, but my mother was born in the Netherlands, and I have a large number of relatives who still live in Europe (England, Switzerland, and the Netherlands in particular) who I have been with when they visited the United States, so it's not like I'm totally ignorant. However, let's face it. It is much harder to drive around your average European city by car and visit practically any and all locations and have them be easily accessible for a car (or a pickup truck over six meters long for that matter) than it is to do the same in Los Angeles, or Salt Lake City, or Las Vegas, or Portland, or Sacramento, or any other number of large cities as compared to London, or Amsterdam, or Rome. I can easily believe that countries on the Scandinavian peninsula are much less crowded than western European countries, as well as many less-developed eastern European countries. Europe is NOT tiny, but as a continent is only about 200,000 ahead of the United States in land area, when Alaska is included. In this space, over twice the 300 million plus population of the United States live and breath. It stands to reason that Europe, as a whole, will be more crowded than America.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever visited the United States, in particular the west coast (where I'm located)?
Patrick 5:19PM (7/06/2008)
Pickups are not very popular with tradespeople in the urban and suburban northeastern U.S. Vans are preferred there to keep materials and tools locked up.
Val 9:36PM (7/06/2008)
I wouldn't want to repeat myself, but will do anyway... In those small streets in europe live people, those people produce garbage, garbage which needs to be collected and transported. I am talking specifically about cities in the Rhein-Ruhr area, but it aplies to any big city over 500 000 probably. There are large dump trucks that go through those streets, there is a very dense network of buses that make a dodge ram (the only american pickup i have seen in germany) look tiny. There is always a way to get anywhere with a car in a city, problem is you probably won't find a place to park it. I don't see the relation between large distances traveled and biger thirstier trucks. Sure, it is more comfortable, maybe a bit faster, but it does the job the same way. Please take a look at the volkswagen pictures in the previous post, things like that are a very common sight. When construction works are done somewhere, that require heavier equipment, things like the actros http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actros somehow manage to get everywhere (which normaly means the street is closed in one directon). Oh, and the only gasoline powered truck still in use are the ZILs and GAZs in some eastern european countries, and those are 50 years old, everything is diesel powered.