Volkswagen announced that its plug-in hybrid line-up will be expanding significantly in Europe. A number of the vehicles we already knew about, such as the VW Golf GTE and VW Touareg plug-in hybrid, and we knew they weren’t coming to America. But two new ones caught our eye: the VW Tiguan compact crossover and VW Arteon midsize sedan. And of course the reason they jumped out at us are that they have U.S. counterparts, so could they come here?
We reached out to Volkswagen to ask about the two models, and a representative said that the company doesn’t have any plans currently to bring them here, but that it’s always considering possible additions to its American models. Not the most encouraging words, but it doesn’t completely shut the door on a plug-in Tiguan or Arteon.
That being said, one of these vehicles has some potential, and one is a likely impossibility. The Arteon is the one that we probably won’t get. At the end of last year, the Arteon was the second worst-selling VW, excluding leftover models such as Touareg and Tiguan Limited. So the company probably won’t put a lot of money to certify a new powertrain for it, let alone the upcoming wagon bodystyle.
The Tiguan has a much brighter outlook. It’s the brand’s second-best seller, accounting for a little over a quarter of all VW sales. As such, it’s a vehicle worth investing in. Offering a plug-in hybrid variant would give it a unique selling point, too, since there aren’t many competitors with such an option. Only the Mitsubishi Outlander, Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4 have plug-in options available now or in the near future. It’s far from a slam dunk, but we think there’s definitely a possibility.
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