I’ve Just Found Out How Many Different SUVs Volkswagen Makes
If you want to guess, think an outrageous number.
This has to be one of the most difficult to explain facts of the automotive panorama. The development of a new car is quite an expensive endeavour (unsurprisingly), so many brands choose to sell the same model in different markets, with small tweaks to adapt it to different market tastes.
However, instead of selling the same model under different brands, the Volkswagen Group have polished over the years their technique to make slightly different models while sharing many components. This way, they can sell an Audi/Volkswagen/Seat/Škoda/(…) variant of a car within the same segment and still be profitable.
What I didn’t know is up to what point they have exploited this.
I was having a conversation with some friends which ended up in me going into Wikipedia and looking up Volkswagen SUVs in their line-up. As a thought experiment, think of a number (quickly, don’t count!) and try to guess. I’m including all the cars that VW considers SUVs (e.g., the ID.4 counts) and across all markets.
Disclaimer: This might or might not be fully exhaustive. I think I haven’t, but I might, counted twice some models that are sold under different names in different markets. You’ll…
