Kjell Gruner, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, says that the company will soon release two hybrid cars. Hybrid drivetrains will be available for the brand’s “volume models,” which are expected to be the Tiguan and Atlas SUVs. Gruner said that VW will not make plug-in hybrids in the US because they are getting heavier and cost more to make. Since the Jetta Hybrid left the market at the end of the 2016 model year, Volkswagen hasn’t had a gas-electric model in the US. However, they do sell hybrid powertrains in other countries. VW Group CFO Arno Antlitz said earlier this year that the company was going to start selling plug-in hybrid cars in the US in order to catch up with electric vehicles. During a roundtable discussion at the New York Auto Show, Kjell Gruner, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, revealed that the company’s strategy for hybrids will take a different direction. According to Gruner, VW plans to release two hybrid cars in the next few years. However, they will be regular hybrids instead of plug-in hybrids. The company still wants to release hybrid cars in the US. Gruner told me, “We believe that, for this market and its consumers, full hybrids are the right solution.” Plug-in hybrids have some benefits, but “it adds a lot of weight and also a lot of material cost,” and the market for regular hybrids is much bigger. Volkswagen plans to make hybrid cars like this in North America. “Clearly, it would be much faster to get them from Europe,” Gruner said. “But that’s not the solution we’re going for,” Gruner says, saying that the two hybrids will be the Tiguan and the Atlas SUVs. He also said that the business would “pick from our volume models.” The Tiguan is now under construction in Puebla, Mexico, while the Atlas is being built in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A Tiguan hybrid is likely to be the first to come out since the company is launching the third version of the brand this year. Since the next Atlas is coming out soon, a mixed Atlas might not come out for at least a few years.
