After years of automakers saying the compact and midsize truck markets in the US were too small to take on, suddenly it feels like a free-for-all. From the big dogs like Ford and Ram to startups like Telo and Slate, and mainstream brands like Hyundai, everyone is hopping in the bed-wagon. Even the Germans are getting involved, namely Volkswagen.
Strangely, VW might actually have too many choices when it comes to what truck to build. But apparently, the company is determined to build something.
Volkswagen Sees Pickup Potential And It Wants In
2018 Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak ConceptVolkswagen
Volkswagen has been cagey about its potential pickup plans throughout 2026. In April, the company’s head of US operations said that “you can’t just ignore it” referring to the massive pickup truck market in the US, adding that he didn’t want to rule out VW’s participation.
Now, Reuters reports there are stronger signs. A source alleges that Volkswagen plans to completely overhaul its business strategy in the US, and that the new strategy will include a new pickup and possibly a larger SUV than the Atlas. It’s presented not as if this will happen, but when.
It would be a quick transition for Volkswagen, which just a few years ago had planned to go fully electric in the very near term. Especially if this truck has a gas engine under its hood, something that seems very likely.
Volkswagen has at least three straightforward choices if it wants to build a new truck. Especially if it wants to build that truck in the US as the report states, which is almost a necessity if it wants to avoid steep tariffs on the vehicle.
Who Could Build VW’s Truck?
2027 Scout Terra Blue Rear Angle in the DesertScout Motors
The first logical choice is internal. The VW Group is currently getting ready to start up the reimagined Scout brand with a new US plant. The Scout pickup will be sold as an EV and as a range-extended EV using a Volkswagen gas engine underneath. A version with VW styling and likely a lower price could be a solid offering for the company, and it would probably also make dealers happy. But it might step on the Scout with too much overlap.
Another possibility comes from Ford, because Volkswagen’s Amarok pickup sold elsewhere shares a platform with the Ford Ranger. VW would likely have to make some changes to make this one happen for the US market. It would also probably have to convince Ford to build the trucks for it at Ford’s plant in Wayne, Michigan, or build a completely new line for it at VW’s own Chattanooga plant.
A third possibility also involves Ford: the just-announced Fathom electric vehicle. Ford and VW’s partnership includes Ford Europe vehicles built on VW’s MEB electric platform, so sharing Ford’s brand-new Universal Electric Vehicle platform in the US cannot be ruled out. It could also help reduce Ford’s risk exposure with a brand-new electric vehicle.
Of course, VW could also pull something completely out of left field and make a truck out of the Atlas, much like Honda did with the Pilot to create the Ridgeline. Volkswagen has actually shown us this exact vehicle before, in the form of the Atlas Tanoak concept of 2018.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Volkswagen Amarok from the front three-quarter angleVolkswagen
Volkswagen’s US sales are shrinking, and a pickup might seem like a surefire way to fix that. But the midsize pickup market is dominated by the Toyota Tacoma as everyone else fights for a small piece of the pie. And the full-size market has shown time and again that you simply cannot beat the Detroit Three.
For VW, then, the choices might be to go small or to do something completely different, or risk ending up on the pile of pickup truck failures that includes the Nissan Titan, Dodge Dakota, Subaru Baja, and plenty of others.
The report says that the goal is to bring VW’s first pickup to market by the end of the decade, a timeline that means the brand will need to decide quickly on what to do, or who to reach out to for help.
Source: Reuters
