| Quote, originally posted by TREGinginCO » |
| I just got my latest issue of Automobile Magazine in the mail last night. It has a real picture -- with somebody driving --- of VW's new smaller SUV to compete with the the Honda CRV and the likes. The article calls it the Marrakesh (sp?). It's a great looking vehicle. |
| Quote, originally posted by dschlei » |
| The spelling is Marrakesch and the vehicle will be build in the original VW factory in Wolfsburg, Germany! |
| Quote, originally posted by spockcat » |
Depends on whether the German labor unions will make enough concessions. I was told that the production could go to Portugal, Poland, Slovakia or elsewhere. That decision hadn't been made yet. |
| Quote, originally posted by The CarConnection.com » |
Under the codename Marrakesh, Volkswagen is getting on with the development of the new 4x4 Golf model, based on the Golf Plus tall wagon not seen in the States. Prototypes of the crossover were sighted last winter during cold-weather testing in Scandinavia and have now been caught at Germany 's Nürburgring. The raised ride height has been designed to offer extra ground clearance. Under the skin, the new SUV features a re-engineered version of the Golf's 4MOTION all-wheel-drive system, which will also appear on the upcoming A3 Allroad from VW's sister firm, Audi. Inside, the CrossGolf gets the same cabin as the Golf Plus, with three rear seats that fold and slide independently of each other. Pricing and specification details for the Golf Plus range have yet to be announced, but the soft-roader is set to make its showroom debut in 2006. It will be equipped with transversely mounted engines delivering up to 250 horsepower. The new CrossGolf/Marrakesh is Volkswagen's second try to market a off-road-capable version of the Golf. The first one was the not so successful Golf Country, introduced in 1990. |
| Quote, originally posted by dschlei » |
| The VW CEO Pischetsrieder statet that the Marrakesch will be build in Wolfsburg. |
| Quote, originally posted by from the article » |
| Zuversichtlich zeigte sich Pischetsrieder, dass der neue kompakte Geländewagen in Wolfsburg und nicht in Portugal gefertigt wird. Der Marrakesch sollte im Stammwerk gebaut werden, auch um dort eine verbesserte Kapazitätsauslastung zu erreichen, betonte er. "Wenn wir gemeinsam mit der Arbeitnehmervertretung den Kompakt-SUV in Wolfsburg auf solide wirtschaftliche Füße stellen, wäre das ein positives Signal auch für künftige Produktentscheidungen", sagte der VW-Chef. |
| Quote, originally posted by GLI_Man » |
Just not feeling it. http://****************.com/smile/emthdown.gif 
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| Quote » |
| At its meeting today, the Brand Product Strategy Committee of Volkswagen AG recommended that the compact SUV should be built at the Palmela plant in Portugal from 2007. This recommendation was issued in view of the competitive situation and the scheduling framework for production start-up of the compact SUV. From the present perspective, production in Portugal brings cost benefits of over 1000 Euro per vehicle compared with production in Wolfsburg, the alternative facility. Given the tough competitive situation in this vehicle segment, extra costs on this scale are not acceptable. Under present conditions, production of the compact SUV at the Wolfsburg site would therefore not be economic. There is one remaining alternative for Wolfsburg as regards production of the compact SUV. This would involve integration of the vehicle in Touran production, i.e. production by Auto 5000 GmbH. “The window for a decision on this alternative also closes on 26 September”, commented Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, Chairman of the Volkswagen brand Board of Management. “That is the deadline for plant and machinery specifications for the production site in order to guarantee on-time production start-up.” |
