Volkswagen has decided not to go ahead with plans to assemble a pick-up for the European market at its Hannover commercial vehicle plant.
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According to Automobilwoche, Volkwagen has redone some analysis that shows that recent fuel price rises have completely changed the European market and there is no demand for a heavy vehicle with a large loading area.
The pick-up will still be produced in Argentina, where the market is growing. Around EUR233m has been invested in the Pacheco assembly plant in Buenos Aires to produce the pick-up from 2009. Annual production should reach around 90,000 units, with a significant proportion destined for export, mainly to Brazil.
Automobilwoche also noted that the new Volkswagen pick-up will not be sold in the US. Although the US is traditionally a big market for pick-ups, customers there are now looking for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
According to an earlier local press report, 700 jobs at the Hannover plant (of a total of 13,000) would be dependent on the pick-up assembly operation from 2010. As a result the company is looking for replacement work.
Volkswagen decided to enter the pick-up market in 2005. The then chief executive, Bernd Pischetsrieder, said at the time that there could also be a big market in Europe for pick-ups. During that year VW decided not to go ahead with plans to build the ‘Microbus’ in Hannover.
