Volkswagen may build a luxurious coupe version of its mid-sized Passat, it told Reuters, in what would mark an expansion of its controversial premium-car strategy.
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“We are considering this,” a spokesman reportedly said, confirming a report in Germany’s Freie Presse newspaper, but he stressed that no decision had yet been made.
Giving no source, the newspaper reported that VW was mulling advanced plans to build 50,000 to 60,000 units a year of the new coupe and that it may chose its underused German plant in Dresden as the manufacturing site, Reuters said.
The news agency noted that VW builds its luxury Phaeton car in Dresden, but only delivered around 6,000 of the model last year, raising questions about whether the group should instead concentrate on its mass-volume car business.
VW’s British-based Bentley division is also going to use excess capacity in Dresden to make its new Flying Spur model, Reuters added.
The report said Volkswagen has been selling the new sixth-generation Passat in Germany since March and is about to launch it in the US – the car is VW’s second-biggest seller after the compact Golf.
