Although German carmaker Volkswagen has already invested heavily in electric vehicles (EV), it does not yet have an electric pick-up.
At least, not right now.
American car publication Autoblog reported that Volkswagen is looking into building one after finishing up its EV sport-utility vehicles (SUV).
“It would not be a combustion,” said Volkswagen America CEO Pablo Di Si at the sidelines of the Chicago Auto Show 2023. “Let me define, electrified. It can be electric. It can be a plug-in. It cannot be a combustion engine. That’s for sure.”
This new pick-up will be different from the one produced under the company’s Scout EV off-road brand. Two Scout models, a pick-up and an SUV, are slated for launch in 2026.
Di Si said the company is not yet sure what segment the new Volkswagen EV pick-up would compete in, with full-size, non-EV stalwarts like the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado ruling the roost in the U.S.
The all-new, internal-combustion Volkswagen Amarok pick-up, which competes directly with the Ford Ranger, was launched on July 2022.
Di Si said the proposed model may use Volkswagen’s existing unibody EV platforms, but adapted specifically for the American market.
“You have the Atlas platform, we have the Taos platform,” he said. “You have other platforms that we have not launched yet. So the important thing is that … the vehicle is developed in the region for the region. So it cannot be a development from Europe, or Asia and brought here.”
Volkswagen Philippines remains mum on launching EVs locally, but has stated that it will not support gray imports of the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.6 electric crossovers.
Do you think a Volkswagen EV pick-up would ever reach our shores?
Source: Chicago Auto Show 2023: Volkswagen mulling over ‘electrified’ pick-up — report