New York International Auto Show celebrates its 125th anniversary
The New York International Auto Show is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. “The New York Auto Show really got things started for the auto industry back in 1900 at the old Madison Square Garden,” said Show president Mark Schienberg.
It will take a couple of years, but Volkswagen has plans to get some hybrids into the hands of North American customers.
It isn’t that the German automaker doesn’t have them — it has regular and plug-in hybrids for sale in Europe. But the company, like many others, miscalculated the speed with which American customers would adopt electric vehicles, betting they would go all-in on full battery electric cars, trucks and SUVs with greater speed. But the forecasts were too ambitious, and the market is more interested in hybrids than pure EVs right now, catching VW flat-footed.
The biggest miss: When the all-new 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan goes on sale this summer, this third generation of VW’s bestselling vehicle will not offer a hybrid.
A decision has been made
The decision has been made to feature two vehicles with hybrid powertrains, Volkswagen of America CEO Kjell Gruner told a small group of media at the 2025 New York Auto Show.
A hybrid is coming for the U.S. Tiguan to right the aforementioned wrong, but it is still a couple years off. To help bridge the gap, VW used the New York auto show to unveil a performance version of that small SUV that will be added for the 2026 model year.
The Tiguan hybrid will be joined by a hybrid version of the Volkswagen Atlas in roughly the same time frame. The next-generation Atlas is due in 2027, and we will get our first look at the updated three-row SUV next year. However, the hybrid is not expected to be ready at launch, Gruner said.
Not plug-in hybrids
This means VW will have added electric motors to its top-selling models by volume in North America. But they will be conventional hybrids which that don’t require customers to change their behavior, not plug-in hybrids, Gruner says. This also saves on weight and cost. The automaker also wants to see how the regulatory environment unfolds over the next 24 months or so — the existence or absence of credits for low-emission vehicles is a factor.
Volkswagen wants to make the hybrids — and source batteries — in North America even though it would be faster to import them from Europe where they are already offered.
Gruner said there could be a mild hybrid for the VW Jetta in the future, as well. Volkswagen offered a Jetta hybrid in the past, discontinuing it after the 2016 model year.
Photos by MotorTrend
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