Volkswagen plans to overhaul its US strategy with new management and a revised product lineup, including a pick-up, a company source told Reuters. The overhaul, first reported by Handelsblatt, would see Marco Schubert, formerly Head of Sales at Audi, relocate to the US to replace Kjell Gruner, who is leaving the company.

Like many executives eyeing the US market, Volkswagen Brand Chief Thomas Schäfer sees growth opportunities specifically in pick-ups and large SUVs. Both of these are high-margin segments with consistently strong US demand, and Volkswagen currently does not offer a product in either. The goal is to bring the first pick-up to market before the end of the decade; this vehicle would be built domestically in the US rather than imported.

The scale of the opportunity is considerable. Pick-ups alone accounted for nearly a fifth of all US vehicle sales last year, according to Cox Automotive, with average sticker prices approaching US$70,000 for the large models dominating the category. However, vehicle prices are steadily increasing in the US—to the point many consumers are being priced out of the new car market entirely. Average purchase prices surpassed US$50,000 for the first time late in 2025 and have generally hovered above that line ever since.

This has led to several US-based automakers reversing their strategies in the direction of affordability. Notable examples include Rivian, which began deliveries of its ‘mass market’ R2 SUV three months ago and aims to launch a US$45,000 variant in late 2027; electric vehicle startup Slate, which is opting for an ultra-stripped-back but heavily customisable pick-up starting at US$24,950; and Ford, which shed some light on its US$28,350 electric pick-up, Fathom, for the first time last week. 

It remains to be seen what pricing strategy Volkswagen will adopt for its own pick-up, although given the segment’s historically high margins—and the company’s own narrowing profits—it may occupy the mid-to-premium range. These segments are highly lucrative, particularly in the upper pricing range: Ford, GM and Stellantis have leaned so heavily into them that all three have discontinued most of their traditional car lineups.

In terms of development, Volkswagen appears to be split between two different options: developing it in-house on its MQB Evo platform—shared with the Atlas SUV twins—or expanding its existing partnership with Ford, whose Ranger already shares a platform with Volkswagen’s own Amarok built in South Africa. If Volkswagen chooses the latter route, production could be handled at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant, where the US Ranger is built.

What this would mean for Volkswagen’s own plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee remains unclear. Like many factories in the Group’s production network it has had a difficult year, losing ID.4 production line earlier this year following the elimination of the US federal tax credit for electric vehicles. It now builds only the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport, leaving most of its capacity unused. Whether Chattanooga can accommodate the still-unconfirmed pick-up platform may prove decisive in where production ultimately lands.

The stakes go beyond a single new model: Volkswagen holds just 4% of the US market, a figure it has repeatedly tried and failed to lift to 10% in the past. A source told Reuters that the company’s entire US model range is now under review, with some existing models potentially facing discontinuation. Bringing in Audi’s former sales chief to run the region, rather than simply adding a pick-up to the existing portfolio, points to a broader structural rethink of the US business.

Separately, Handelsblatt reported in July that Volkswagen is considering bringing China-developed models to Europe for the first time, including potentially importing the ID.Era 9X, a range-extender SUV developed with SAIC, or building similar models domestically at underused European plants such as Zwickau. Lower Saxony’s state premier Olaf Lies—who also sits on Volkswagen’s supervisory board—has publicly backed the idea as a way to stabilise plant utilisation at struggling German sites. However, the automaker maintains that any such plans remain at an early stage.

That review sits inside a broader pattern already reshaping the industry, in which automakers increasingly treat regional manufacturing footprints as interchangeable assets to be reallocated based on cost and utilisation rather than fixed by geography. The same logic underpins Geely’s move into Ford’s idle Spanish plant; it also applies to BYD and Xpeng’s efforts to acquire brownfield European production sites. Notably, the latter is in talks with Volkswagen itself, although it has expressed concern about how outdated the German automaker’s facilities are. 

Volkswagen considering sourcing vehicles from China to fill idle capacity in Germany, building a pick-up in the US rather than importing one, and mulling the closure of up to four plants in its home market suggests it is applying that same reallocation logic across every region at once.