Volkswagen debates three different pickup strategies for US market

A small MQB-based pickup would carve out a new niche for US buyers.

Volkswagen CEO Scott Keogh has confirmed three potential pickup strategies that the company is considering for the US market.

The company recently brought its South American Tarok pickup to the New York auto show, highlighting one possible route that would involve a tiny budget-focused pickup based on the flexible MQB platform architecture.

"The question we have is, could something like this make sense, with modifications, in the U.S. market?" Keogh recently pondered, as quoted by Automotive News. "The theory is quite straightforward: It's an A-segment sized vehicle. There's no pickup truck in the U.S. market that is quite that size at all."

Another option centers around VW's collaboration with Ford, which could be expanded to include a VW-badged body-on-frame midsize pickup sharing the Ranger platform.

Finally, the German automaker is also considering a midsize unibody 'lifestyle' pickup derived from the Atlas crossover. This option was already previewed via the Tanoak concept presented at the 2018 New York auto show.

VW appears increasingly certain to launch a pickup in the US, once the company makes a final decision on which route to take.

Image by Brian Williams.