German Car Zone

Looks like they've put so much wheel clearance that you could put 32" blinged-out ugly-as-hell rims.

And people say that BMW's new niche vehicles are unneccesary..this is just waaaay out of character for VW. Interesting this is, in the US, SUV/Pick-up sales have nose-dived in recent months, so not sure how successful this will be.

I think it is safe to say that no one workin on American farm or ranch would ever buy a VW truck in the first place.

This is for people who just want to be able to say they drive a truck.

I very much agree with you there...but the thing is, those who do want to own a truck just so they can say 'I drive a big truck' are fairly patriotic. A tonne of Fords and Chevy trucks are popular, and I'm sure you've seen how much effort and emphasis Toyota have put into making the Tundra seem all-American rather than a Japanese truck. Toyota haven't been all-out successful with that, and I'd imagine it'd be even more difficult for VW to portray a genuine American image when VW is synonymous with Germany. By the looks of it, it seems like it'll be 'work truck' (as opposed to a fancy Cadillac SUV/Truck) that that makes this thing even less likely of being a success.

We see Toyota, Nissan and even Mitsubishi taking a small portion of the SUV/Truck market in the US, but not sure if VW can crack the market... they'll definitely have to offer a big donk V8 engine to be 'American'.

As for other the markets that VW is aiming this pick-up.. well, I'm guessing it'll be a somewhat successful. All depends on the development costs of such a vehicle. If it's based off the Toureg/Q7 chassis, then it's pretty much just a derivative. So I guess all-in-all, not that bad of a strategy...as long as they don't expect the US market to actually warm up to this thing.. coz it won't.

Uhhh guys you've totally missed who this is targeted towards.

Emerging countries such as South Africa, Argentina & Brazil plus many more markets where VW is either 1st or 2nd in terms of market share.

The Robust is not a niche vehicle this is a workhorse like the Hilux, L200 or Navara which can carry one tonne payload.

I agree those vehicles are great sellers here in Australia, infact the Hilux was the topselling vehicle in April for the entire country.

VW has to market the Robust in Australia as I want one

VW Robust Pickup Spied in U.S. Plus Rendering

Amidst the recent surfacing of several conflicting reports, spy photographers caught Volkswagen’s upcoming pickup truck in the U.S yesterday. The largest rumor was that VW won’t be selling the truck in Europe, however, sources have stated that it will be available in pickup form – in select areas – in very limited numbers – although none will be built in Hannover, Germany, as originally planned. Instead, all production, which includes a closed back version, will take place in Pacheco, Argentina. The closed back variant will not be available in Europe.

Volkswagen is still planning on building about 90,000 units annually for South and Latin American markets, although we doubt (to the dismay of VW fans) that they’ll bring any to the U.S., as the dealers were unhappy with the presentation materials and demographic group associated with such a product – as it’s beneath what North American VW buyers expect in the brand.

The “Robust” name is just a working codename which will most likely be changed before the market launch in the end of 2009 as a 2010 model.

[Source: AUTOMEDIA via WCF]