Volkswagen pickup concept to debut next week
Pickup truck sales have tanked here in the States, but in emerging markets, affordable haulers are still in demand. VW has announced that those markets would get a sneak peak at the concept version of its upcoming pickup truck offering at next week's Commercial Vehicles Show in Hanover, Germany. Our friend Mike Levine over at Pickuptrucks.com says that while VW calls the upcoming truck a one ton, it's more like a mid-sizer. Since the spy pics we showed you back in April were of a Toyota HiLux body sitting atop VW internals, we'd tend to agree with that statement.Names on the table for VW's upcoming truck are the Robust and Taro II, and it's to be built in Pacheco, Argentina beginning next year. The Robust was not designed for the US market, so Stateside VW fans will have to cut the back out of a Touareg if they need an open truck bed.
Gallery: 2010 Volkswagen Robust - spy shots
[Source: Pickuptrucks]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Torrent 5:39PM (9/17/2008)
Damn, it's about freakin time.
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why not the LS2LS7? 6:00PM (9/17/2008)
No seriously, a 1-ton? As in a GM 3500/F350?
Nonsensical.
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Nater 6:04PM (9/17/2008)
Just give me my old Rabbit Pickup back!
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Torrent 6:05PM (9/17/2008)
That is the worst possible thing any living human can ever say at this point in life.
Michael 6:18PM (9/17/2008)
But how... robust is it?
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Tim 10:02PM (9/17/2008)
Robust and VW do not go together...
Flashpoint 6:36PM (9/17/2008)
can anyone say Ridgeline (read: ripped off Avalanche)
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ugg.tryptophan 6:41PM (9/17/2008)
cant wait to see it with huge touareg wheels
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Tool 7:28PM (9/17/2008)
What decade is VW operating in?
First it was the decision to rebadge a Chrysler minivan as the Routan. And now VW is entering the pick-up market.
This seems really strange from a product strategy standpoint.
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FFS 7:40AM (9/18/2008)
once again....USA =/= WORLD
theyve had pickups for decades, only not in the US
Lou 7:43PM (9/17/2008)
Someday, someone will actually bring a compact, no frills truck to market in the US. What ever happened to that segment? What used to be compact has grown a little too big. To illustrate, put a new Tacoma next to an 80's Hilux and you will see what mean.
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adrenalnjunky 11:35PM (9/17/2008)
The upcoming Mahindra fits your definition - but you left out "Reasonably Inexpensive". Rumors now have the Mahindra in the upper 20's lower 30's.
The Luigiian 8:13PM (9/17/2008)
The United States probably won't see another compact truck for at least a couple years. There's no profits to be made in them. Without diesel engines, they're not as capable for hauling and towing, and without economies of scale, they're not any cheaper than a fullsize truck. Not to mention that their fuel economy, absent a four-cylinder engine, is no better than a full size truck either.
Still, I wish they would make a good compact truck. I would even be contented with a decent four cylinder engine for the Ranger. If Ford just put a more powerful four cylinder in their Ranger and offered it with four wheel drive, I would be swift in going to the Ford dealer.
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The Luigiian 8:31PM (9/17/2008)
Aw, crap, I'm sorry, double posted because Autoblog's taking a while to respond.
The Luigiian 8:31PM (9/17/2008)
I predict that we won't see any more compact trucks on the U.S. market, save possibly the production version of the Toyota A-BAT concept, for a long time. At this point, they aren't profitable. The problem is that most don't get any better fuel economy than a full size truck. Not only that, but they're no cheaper either, due to economies of scale being on the full-size trucks' side. Why buy a little Ranger when you can buy an F-150, same mileage, same price?
To illustrate: Ford just recently released fuel economy figures on the Ford F-150: Around 15/20 MPG 2wd, or 14/19 4wd. By comparison, the Nissan Frontier gets 15/20 2wd, the Tacoma gets 17/21 with 2wd and the Ranger gets 16/21 2wd. Granted those are six cylinder figures, but most consumers aren't going to buy a four-banger (or want to buy a four-banger) truck anyway.
I think the best approach is just to shrink full size trucks down to reasonable proportions, like they were back in the nineties or even the eighties, and offer them with fuel-efficient technologies, whose prices would be negated by the economies of scale inherent in the full size truck market.
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abg 12:35AM (9/18/2008)
Ahh, so that is what that masked pickup I saw yesterday is! Seems like all prototype testers like to visit here in Colorado where the roads reach up to 11,000 feet or more in elevation.
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imoore 10:32AM (9/18/2008)
What? You saw a prototype and you didn't take any pictures? Shame on you. Now go track them down and start shooting!