Volkswagen Planning Assault on Toyota With Camry and Highlander Competitors

We’ve known for some time now that Volkswagen is planning to build a new mid-size sedan, but as details of the German automaker’s future product lineup emerge, it appears as though VW isn’t just interest in taking on the Camry, but the entire Toyota lineup.

Volkswagen has the potential to overtake Toyota as the world’s largest automaker, but first it must crack the North American market. The new mid-sized sedan will be the first step in that direction, but after it will come a competitor for the Highlander.

Apparently Volkswagen is finally ready to abandon its European philosophy and sell Americans what they want – big cars. “U.S. customers look at size and engine displacement. They won’t pay an extra dollar for a Passat over a Camry just because of its finesse and attention to detail,” said a VW representative to the staff at Car & Driver.

So what we can expect from the upcoming sedan is essentially just a larger and less expensive version of the Passat, with what will most likely be a more progressive (CC-esque) design. The VW rep’s comments about engine displacement also draws into question previous reports that the upcoming sedan will be powered by VW’s 2.0 TFSI and 2.5-liter engines.

The release date for the upcoming Volkswagen family sedan has also been moved up to 2011, most likely to take advantage of the struggling U.S. automakers.

It, as well as the Highlander-competitor, will both be assembled in the Unites States at Volkswagen’s new Chattanooga, Tennessee facility.

The new bigger-is-better philosophy at Volkswagen will also spill over to the Polo. Apparently it will still hit our shores but not until 2012 and in a larger format than in Europe and as a sedan.

According to C&D, VW’s future vehicles for the U.S. include the BlueSport Roadster (which has been temporarily placed on hold) as well as a second generation of the hugely unsuccessful Phaeton.

[Source: Car & Driver]