WOLFSBURG: Volkswagen is launching its first convertible SUV.
Based on the T-Roc, the new model is to be produced from the first half of 2020. A production volume of up to 20,000 vehicles per year is planned.
The car maker is pouring more than €80 million into the Osnabrück plant where convertible SUV will be built.
SUVs are currently making a key contribution to the growth of the Volkswagen Group's core brand.
With 720,000 Tiguan vehicles delivered, this model is among the 10 best-selling models in the world and the top three SUVs. By 2020, the brand intends to expand its SUV range throughout the world to 20 models.
By then, about 40 percent of the vehicles sold by Volkswagen are to be SUVs. With the new cabriolet, Volkswagen will further reinforce its presence in the compact SUV segment, one of the fastest-growing segments globally.
With the new cabriolet, Volkswagen is bringing this body style into the currently particularly strong growing SUV segment. This model continues Volkswagen's cabriolet tradition, which dates back almost 70 years.
The original version of the T-Roc was launched in European markets at the end of 2017. To date, more than 40,000 orders have been taken for the model.
Volkswagen Osnabrück GmbH currently has about 2,300 employees. In 2017, the plant assembled more than 76,000 units on three production lines. Currently, Volkswagen Osnabrück assembles the Tiguan and the Porsche Cayman.
In addition, the plant is responsible for part of the painting work needed for the Škoda Fabia. Since Volkswagen Osnabrück GmbH was founded in 2011, more than 280,000 vehicles have rolled off the assembly lines.
