VW Tees Up Another Crossover - or Two - for 2014-'15

Just the Facts:

• VW's top U.S. executive confirms the company is planning to add a midsize crossover between the Tiguan and Touareg.
• European sources say VW is looking at two new CUVs, including a stretched version of the next-generation Tiguan, as well as a production version of the Cross Coupe concept.
• One or both crossovers could arrive in 2014-'15.

DETROIT ? Volkswagen's top U.S. executive confirmed Wednesday the company is planning to add a midsize crossover between the Tiguan and Touareg. In fact, according to European media reports, VW is looking at two new CUVs for 2014-'15, including a stretched version of the next-generation Tiguan, as well as a production version of the Cross Coupe concept that debuted late last year at the Tokyo auto show.

"There's a great opportunity for us for a midsize SUV in the U.S.," VW of America CEO Jonathan Browning told a media gathering here, according to Bloomberg.

The 2012 VW Tiguan is priced from $23,660 and the 2012 VW Touareg starts at $44,245. Both prices include shipping.

The redesigned Tiguan is due to arrive in the U.S. in mid-2014, as a 2015 model. It is expected to be followed in 2015 by a long-wheelbase edition, according to Automobile magazine. Both cars will be based on VW's new Modular Transverse Matrix ? a highly flexible platform architecture better known by its German acronym MQB.

A production version of the Cross Coupe, also based on the MQB architecture, is due in 2016. About the same time, the next-generation Touareg will surface, based on a different component set dubbed MLB. The latter architecture also will underpin most of the VW group's large crossovers, including the replacements for the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, as well as the new Bentley EXP 9 F and the Lamborghini Urus.

Inside Line says: The successor to the VW Passat also will share the MQB platform, which raises the possibility that the next Tiguan and Cross Coupe could be built on the same assembly line in Tennessee.

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