Volkswagen Golf won North American Car of the Year and Ford Motor Co’s aluminium-bodied F-150 pickup took the truck award, reports Bloomberg. It was VW’s first win since the New Beetle took the prize in 1999. Golf has been a bright spot for VW in the US, where it was the only model in the brand’s lineup that increased sales last year. The car’s sales more than doubled in December and rose 8.9% for the year to 33,675. The parent company sold more than 10mn vehicles last year for the first time. Ford’s F-150 won the truck award for a fourth time, adding to victories in 1996, 2004 and 2009. The F-Series line has been America’s best-selling truck for 38 years. The truck is the first mass-produced model to use aluminium so extensively, reducing the weight by as much as 700 pounds and giving it fuel-economy ratings as high as 26 miles (42km) per gallon. Last year, Chevrolet swept the awards with its Corvette Stingray sportscar and Silverado pickup. The awards, selected by a committee of automotive journalists, have been given out since 1994. The other finalists for the car award were the Hyundai Genesis and Ford Mustang. The Lincoln MKC and Chevrolet Colorado were finalists for the truck honour.

VW aims to tune in to local tastes in latest US turnaround plan



Reuters/Detroit


Volkswagen’s latest push to become more than a niche player in the US builds on a truism the German car maker has long ignored: if you want to crack the US market, tune in to American customers.
VW is aiming for leadership in global auto markets, backed by timely expansion in China and Latin America as well as its dominance in Europe. Yet it continues to struggle in North America.
It swapped US chiefs a year ago, disappointed by the results of a push into midsize sedans assembled at a $1bn factory in Tennessee. US sales of VW-branded cars have dropped 16% since 2012.
To fight back, the company plans to triple its product range in the fast-growing crossover segment and refresh models more quickly, company sources said.
The campaign will include a five-seat variant of the forthcoming midsize sport-utility vehicle (SUV), a concept version of which was to be unveiled later yesterday at the Detroit auto show, the sources said.
VW is also stepping up co-operation with dealers and assembling a team of 200 experts in R&D and design at its US plant to ensure vehicles better cater to American tastes.
“It took us long to realise that the US market requires more special attention,” a senior manager at VW’s German headquarters said on condition of anonymity.
“You have to have an ear on the ground to capitalise on trends and customer desires.”
Michael Horn, VW’s new US chief, has reduced the product lifecycle from seven to five years for sedans and is planning similar changes for SUVs, one source said.
“It’s the game you have to play in the hype-heavy US market,” the source said.
VW’s past failings mean it will miss an 800,000 US sales target for 2018, according to researcher IHS Automotive. It sees 547,000 sales of VW-brand cars by then, from last year’s 367,000, missing the goal by about a third.
Chief executive Martin Winterkorn, at a reception in Detroit on Sunday night, admitted it could be tough to more than double US sales to 800,000 by 2018. “This will not be a walk in the park,” he said. “We are facing challenges in this great market.”
IHS forecasts include VW’s plans to overhaul the Tiguan compact SUV this year, plus a coupe-style version and long-wheelbase model that may offer a petrol-electric hybrid option.
A source at VW said the new long-wheelbase Tiguan seven-seat SUV is most likely to be built in Mexico in 2017. The five-seat Cross Coupé concept SUV to be unveiled at the Detroit show is likely to be assigned to the Chattanooga plant, the source said.
US compact SUV sales rose to about 1.49mn last year from 964,000 in 2009, while midsize SUVs grew to 1.69mn from 946,000, according to auto website Edmunds.com.
But VW won’t benefit from the boom until new products arrive in 2016-17, Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said, noting that existing Tiguan and Touareg models cost more than rivals.
Also, Toyota and Mazda, buoyed by the weak yen, will keep pushing into passenger cars, VW’s traditional area of strength, he said.