VW Crossblue

[haven]

Bloomberg is reporting that VW will start production of the VW Crossblue concept vehicle. The Chatanooga TN plant is the most likely factory to build the Crossblue. The Crossblue is based on the Passat chassis, and Chatanooga builds Passats today. The Crossblue name is likely to be changed to some silly wind name (like Golf, Jetta and Passat) before production.

The Crossblue is a large crossover/tall station wagon. The overall length of the concept is 196 inches, similar in size to Acura MDX or Infiniti QX60. This allows for a reasonably spacious third row of seats.

Of particular interest is the Crossblue concept's hybrid engine. Using a four cylinder diesel engine and an electric motor at each axle, the hybrid can produce 500 ft lb of torque when needed. Highway fuel economy for the hybrid is in the high 30 mpg range. VW has not announced if the hybrid will be available in the production vehicle.

I can imagine a Crossblue AWD equipped with an Ursa Minor rooftop tent...

 

[CLynn85]

Why can't we just have station wagons? Really tired of every car being jacked up and bulged out and called a "Crossover" SUV.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

Why can't we just have station wagons? Really tired of every car being jacked up and bulged out and called a "Crossover" SUV.

I'm glad someone else sees it the way I do. Can we stop this "crossover" craze and just go back to calling them station wagons? If we could have both and have an "adventure" version or something that's jacked up (similar to Volvos XC70 range or Audi all-road except obviously more off road orientated) that would be great. Then we could at least have two models that can do the stuff they were designed to do well instead of just one that sucks at everything.

 

[evilfij]

Why can't we just have station wagons? Really tired of every car being jacked up and bulged out and called a "Crossover" SUV.

VW makes the jetta sportwagen and passat sportwagen (but not imported to the US) already.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

VW makes the jetta sportwagen and passat sportwagen (but not imported to the US) already.

Exactly, because station wagons don't sell here. The term station wagon is as bad as the term minivan. But for some reason "crossovers" sell like crazy even though they're the same damn thing. It's all marketing.

Heck, most SUV's could even be classified as station wagons these days.

 

[haven]

Perhaps buoyed by their World Cup victory on Sunday, VW has announced that the Crossblue has received the green light for production. The mid-size crossover will be built in Chattanooga, TN, and sales will be focused in North America.

Production will begin toward the end of 2016. The Crossblue will be based on the MQB platform, which is used by the Golf, Jetta, and Tiguan. The Crossblue will have three rows of seats. A diesel engine will be optional. It's not clear if the diesel-electric hybrid powerplant showcased in the Crossblue prototype will be available when the Crossblue is introduced.

 

[libarata]

VW had a team in the world cup?

Crossover=SUV=crossover.