Somewhere along the way, the presidency of Volkswagen of America became a revolving door. And so, apparently, did Volkswagen of America's priorities for its product lineup.
Volkswagen AG announced a "major overhaul" in both leadership and product planning. Kjell Gruner s out as president of Volkswagen of America, and a fellow named Marco Schubert - not to be confused with American swimming-team coach Mark Schubert - is taking his place. Gone are the days when a Volkswagen of America president could last for over a decade like the late, great Stuart Perkins, who took over from his mentor Carl Hahn in 1965 as the Beetle was about to peak and oversaw the introduction of VW's watercooled cars in 1975. Gruner had only been the leader of Volkswagen of America since December 2024.
The product lineup plans Schubert plans to pursue per the desires of Wolfsburg brass are even ominous. VW wants to add a pickup to the North American lineup, like the Amarok model (below). It will likely be built in VW's Tennessee factory.
As if that weren't bad enough, VW wants to add a full-size SUV. To respond to the inevitable point that VW already has the Atlas, the company wants something even bigger. So not good.
Left unmentioned was whether the base Golf will still be re-introduced to the U.S. and Canada once production of the eighth-generation Golf begins in Mexico. Also left unmentioned was whether the Jetta - the current generation of which is entering its ninth model year this fall - will continue. Gruner said that both cars represent the soul of Volkswagen for VW enthusiasts, and I would add that the Jetta has been one of the bestselling European cars in the United States for decades. It is as yet unclear whether Schubert is simpatico with Gruner's position. Gruner's position no longer matters; he is leaving the company completely.
If there's any silver lining in this development (and I'm stretching it here), it's that Schubert is coming over from Audi, a VW division that never forgot how to make performance cars, so he might actually favor the gambit to keep the Golf and the Jetta in the North American lineup and bring back the base Golf model. Just don't ask Marco for a Polo (which has gone electric, the new ID version having just gone on sale in Europe), or any other model true to Volkswagen's heritage, because the brand is undoubtedly doubling down on a strategy to Americanize the brand to pander to American tastes to increase its American market share.
This is the worst watering down of Volkswagen in the U.S. since 1978, when VW's Westmoreland factory in Pennsylvania began producing "Malibunnies" - Rabbits so Americanized in terms of trim and performance that it had more in common with the Chevrolet Malibu than with Golfs back in Europe. If Volkswagen keeps going down this path, it won't be Volkswagen anymore. Not in the New World, anyway.
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