Confirmed: Volkswagen GX3 scrapped

In early May, we cited an Automobile magazine report suggesting VW was concerned about possible liability issues surrounding the GX3 Concept, which the automaker had plans to mass produce. Later that month, AutoWeek said VW was poised to kill the 125 mph three-wheeler due to these concerns. Today, financial publication Bloomberg confirmed that Volkswagen has killed the project. "With regret, we have concluded that the current and foreseen product liability issues at this time were just too great," Adrian Hallmark, Volkswagen's U.S. chief, said in an e- mailed response to questions. Hallmark said that, since showing the GX3 in Los Angeles, Volkswagen had received "overwhelming" customer responses.





"It would not have been possible for us to build the GX3 with the purity that it required, at the price which prospective customers told us they would be willing to pay," Hallmark said. "Rather than offering a product which deviated from such a basic, honest and original concept, Volkswagen has concluded that, regrettably, production will not be possible."

"The idea of going around with three wheels is a quaint idea from yesteryear," said Stephen Pope, head of equity research at Cantor Fitzgerald in London. "It smacks a bit of stupidity to me. Nice concept, thank you very much, but keep it in the design studio."