Comments by "Stephen Hendricks" (@stephenhendricks103) on "" video.

  1. The mainstream midsize SUV/CUV category is huge. Most brands offer two vehicles in the category: a group of smaller mostly 2 row vehicles ranging from 189" to 192" in length and a group of larger 3 row vehicles from 195" to 204" long. The groups apply to nearly all vehicles in the overall category but there are a couple of exceptions. The 189" long KIA Sorento provides three rows of seats and the VW Atlas Cross Sport is by far the largest of the two row group at 195.5" in length. If there's one lesson VW has learned about North American consumers it's that they like their VW's BIGGER (and usually less expensive) than European (and most other international) buyers. The Atlas replaced the smaller and more expensive Touareg in the US while a new generation Touareg is offered in Europe. The American Passat is considerably larger and cheaper than the European version. The current Tiguan in the US replaced the first generation smaller and pricier version. In fact, at 185" long it (along with the Nissan Rogue) is the largest "compact" crossover sold in the US. The smaller version is still sold in Europe and the US version of the Tiguan is known as the AllSpace in other markets and usually considered a midsize SUV. The current generation Jetta is larger than the last and isn't even offered in VW's home market in Germany. And when VW decided to offer a two row midsize SUV in the US they made the Atlas Cross Sport larger than any competitor. It's even a smidgen longer than the 195" long Toyota Highlander. And much like it's 3 row Atlas big brother, it's built in Tennessee and almost exclusively offered in North America. With VW's decision to drop the basic Golf in the US, that leaves only the GTI, Golf R, and the Arteon as US vehicles that closely resemble their European counterparts. American consumers who prefer the size, handling, and performance of European VW's have been left largely out of picture. As far as VW is concerned, those consumers should be looking at Audi vehicles. That's a shame (imo) but VW, like other mainstream brands, is devoted to making a profit and the sales of vehicles like their SUV's and the Jetta compact sedan are a strong argument for their strategy. Whether it works in the case of the Cross Sport will be evident in the next year, or so.
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