Volkswagen's New Midsize Sedan (NMS) may displace the smaller Passat from the North American market, says VW chief Ulrich Hackenberg. The NMS is aimed, in terms of size, power, price and taste (read: lots of big cupholders) directly at the heartland of cars such as the Camry, Accord, Fusion, and Malibu, but with VW's premium feel.
VW will start building the car in early 2011 in its new Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant. It will be joined later by a Jetta replacement designed with the States in mind. Hackenberg says he hopes to sell 150,000 NMSes a year initially, with plant capacity expandable to 300,000. VW currently sells about 50,000 Passats in the U.S. in a good year.
To get the necessary quality, VW will use many of the same suppliers as Mercedes' Alabama plant. The critical thing for the NMS is its costs will be low because it's built locally and because some of the Passat's expensive running refinement and noise, vibration, and harshness suppression hasn't been engineered in. In line with the group's push for clean diesel, it will be offered with a TDI option as well as four and V-6 gas engines, mounted transversely. A double-clutch transmission is also on the list. It gives better fuel efficiency than a conventional auto.
The NMS is part of VW's Golf-Passat platform matrix. The imported Passat is smaller than the domestic-built NMS, but would need to sell at a similar price, and by VW's own reckoning have no higher visible quality. The Chattanooga car will sell beyond the bounds of the Americas: It will also be built in China as a replacement for the local long-wheelbase Passat, called Passat Lingyu.