Volkswagen Plans First-Ever US Pickup Truck, Replaces American Operations Chief

Volkswagen is finally chasing the money in America: trucks and big SUVs.

The German automaker plans a new pickup truck for the U.S. market, according to a company source who spoke to Reuters on Friday. It would be VW's first-ever pickup here. German business daily Handelsblatt first reported the broader plans.

Marco Schubert, currently head of sales at Audi, is moving over to run Volkswagen's U.S. operations. He replaces Kjell Gruner, who is leaving the company, the Reuters source said. No reason for Gruner's departure was given in the reporting.

Thomas Schaefer, who runs the core Volkswagen brand, is driving the shift. According to the source, Schaefer sees pickups and large SUVs as the growth lane in the U.S. market. Those are high-margin vehicles in strong demand, and Volkswagen currently sells none of them here.

The Timeline and the Plant

VW wants the truck on dealer lots before the end of the decade, the source told Reuters. It's set to be built in the United States.

Volkswagen already has a factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That's the same plant where the company recently ended production of the electric ID.4 ahead of schedule. Global Banking & Finance Review noted the pickup's expected arrival before 2030 lines up with Scout, VW's revived American off-road brand that's also building electric trucks and SUVs domestically.

Neither Reuters nor Global Banking & Finance Review specified whether the new pickup will run on gas, hybrid, or electric power, or whether it will be a standalone Volkswagen-badged product distinct from Scout's lineup. Scout Motors, which VW owns, already has an electric pickup and SUV in the pipeline for the U.S. If Volkswagen brand and Scout end up competing for the same buyers with similar trucks, that's a strategy question nobody's answered yet.

Why This Matters for VW's American Struggles

Volkswagen has had a rough run in the U.S. for years. The company bet heavily on electric vehicles like the ID.4, built in Chattanooga, and that bet hasn't paid off the way executives hoped. Cutting ID.4 production early is the clearest signal of that.

Meanwhile, American car buyers have kept doing what they've done for a decade: buying pickups and full-size SUVs at a pace that dwarfs sedan and small-EV demand. Ford's F-Series, the Chevy Silverado, and the Ram 1500 have dominated U.S. sales charts for years. Volkswagen has watched from the sidelines with zero entries in that category.

Volkswagen is building what Americans actually buy, instead of what European regulators and climate targets wanted Americans to buy.

What's Still Unconfirmed

Reuters' report rests on a single company source, not an official Volkswagen statement or press release. Global Banking & Finance Review's coverage mirrors the Reuters wire story almost word for word, including the same unnamed source, and adds a "Key Takeaways" box speculating the truck launch aligns with "Scout electric vehicle ambitions." That's the outlet's own inference; the underlying report doesn't confirm any electric powertrain for the new VW pickup, and readers should treat that connection as speculation, not confirmed fact.

Volkswagen hasn't issued a public statement confirming Schubert's appointment, Gruner's exit, or the pickup program as of this reporting. Until the company confirms details on its own, dealer network, or through an SEC-equivalent disclosure in Germany, the specifics, truck size, price point, powertrain, and exact launch year remain source-based reporting rather than company-confirmed fact.

The open question now is timing and overlap with Scout. If Volkswagen wants a truck built and selling in the U.S. before 2030, engineering, tooling, and a new Chattanooga production line all have to move fast. Automakers routinely slip these timelines. Ford, GM, and Toyota will have several more years of pickup dominance to defend before Volkswagen's truck ever reaches a dealership.