VW may soon make a compact electric SUV in the US

Volkswagen has decided it will manufacture another electric SUV in North America, and it will be smaller than the ID.4, reports German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Volkswagen’s new compact SUV will be made at either its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, or at its Puebla, Mexico, manufacturing center from the middle of the decade. Handelsblatt reports that a Volkswagen spokeperson confirmed the plans, but would not comment on details.

(It would make a lot more sense, from a sales perspective, if VW made this SUV in Tennessee, seeing how it has to be made in the US in order for the customer to qualify for the Inflation Reduction Act’s $7,500 tax credit.)

The compact SUV could possibly be an SUV version of the ID.3, as Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Thomas Schäfer said in a LinkedIn post at the end of October.

In November, VW reported that it had achieved delivery of 500,000 ID deliveries globally a year early. It also said that it had another 135,000 EVs in the order bank – a 65% increase compared to 2021. 

Volkswagen says it will build only EVs in Europe from 2033 at the latest, and that 50% of all sales and deliveries will be electric in the US and China by that same year.

Volkswagen is considering Ontario, Canada, as a potential site for one of its battery cell plants. There’s evidence of this on the province’s Office of the Integrity Commissioner’s website, including VW CEO Oliver Blume:

Handelsblatt reported that a VW spokesperson confirmed that the group is “currently evaluating suitable locations for a first gigafactory in North America.” 

Photo: Volkswagen

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