Volkswagen is still very much dead-set on meeting its goal of selling 800,000 vehicles in the United States by 2018. And while the company has said on several occasions that it will not be expanding its lineup to models smaller than the Golf, there’s certainly room for expansion elsewhere in its portfolio. At the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, Volkswagen debuted its CrossBlue concept – a three-row, midsize crossover designed specifically with the US market in mind. And during a roundtable discussion at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this month, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America Jonathan Browning told us that a midsize CUV is the company’s “top priority” in the US.
But let’s be clear: The CrossBlue is not a replacement for the Touareg, or any other vehicle in the company’s US lineup (except maybe the Chrysler-supplied Routan minivan). This will be an all-new offering built on Volkswagen’s scalable MQB architecture – the same platform that underpins the Mk7 Golf, among other products. To give us a better idea of exactly what’s in store for the new CrossBlue, Volkswagen flew us out to Germany’s Siegerland Airport the day before the Frankfurt show to give us an up-close-and-personal look at its all-important new crossover.
During our time in Germany, Browning said on several occasions that a midsize crossover is a natural fit for Volkswagen in the US, and the CrossBlue, though still purely a concept at this point, gives a proper glimpse at what we can expect from an entry in this highly competitive segment. It’s still hard to discern what the final design will look like, but we don’t expect the shape to differ too much from what you see here, with nice, handsome proportions and clean lines – it’ll look right at home with the other VW products in the showroom.
The CrossBlue measures in at 196.3 inches long, 79.3 inches wide and 62.2 inches tall. Compared to the Touareg, the concept is longer and wider, though is a full six inches shorter in height – more appropriate dimensions for a true seven-seat crossover. Volkswagen has fitted the CrossBlue with 21-inch alloy wheels at all four corners, wrapped in 235/45-series tires, though we’re sure smaller rollers will be offered on base models when the production vehicle is launched.
Inside, there isn’t anything remarkable in terms of design or packaging, with a modern, forward-thinking cabin that incorporates all of the basic infotainment and driver convenience functions into an airy, spacious cockpit. The sloping center stack features control knobs that are flush with the main surfacing, and raise up when the vehicle is started – just like the gear selector on modern Jaguar products.
All of the necessary infotainment data is housed inside of a prominent 10.2-inch touchscreen interface in the middle of the dash, with a clean design that also displays hybrid drive information. Volkswagen says that there’s a new three-dimensional feature, where, for example, the landscape actually rotates in the navigation function.
The CrossBlue concept uses a six-seat configuration, with two chairs in the second row and a split-folding third row. If the CrossBlue enters production, both six- and seven-passenger options will be available, with a full, three-person bench fitted in the second row instead of the two individual chairs. With both rows folded, up to 77.7 cubic feet of cargo capacity is available, and on the concept, Volkswagen has incorporated iPad Mini rear seat entertainment systems mounted into the back of the front seat headrests.
For the purposes of this concept, VW engineered the CrossBlue to be a plug-in diesel hybrid, mating two electric motors to the company’s new EA288 oil-burning engine. The diesel engine on its own is good for 188 horsepower, but combined with the two e-motors – a 40-kilowatt unit up front, 80-kw motor out back – total system output is estimated to be around 302 horsepower and 517 pound-feet of torque, running to all four wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Volkswagen CrossBlue Concept
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