Will Scirocco be in US or not?

Car enthusiasts and experts are confused as to the status of the VW Scirocco.



It has hardly been a week since reporters implied that the sexy VW Scirocco would not be coming in the US. And now it seems VW of America Vice President Adrian Hallmark may have not been analyzing well his assessment of the car's being in the country. A couple of days ago, VW spokesman Hans-Gerd Bode told the media that VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn will have the final say in this matter. He further said Scirocco remains on the U.S. dance card for late 2008 and that VW plans a huge product offensive at the 2008 Geneva show.



The people from the Auto week seem to think that the 2008 Geneva Motor Show would be the appropriate time for VW to announce whether or not the Scirocco will be coming to the US. Reporters say it makes sense for VW to unveil the production version of the Scirocco at Geneva, where VW was eerily silent during the 2007 show.



The media people were all surprised knowing that Hallmark's reasoning for not bringing the Scirocco to the US was because it "might cannibalize GTI sales". Current lineup Volkswagen models consist of four small cars, a mid-size, and an SUV.

The new VW Scirocco is expected in 2008 and it will be produced in Portugal. The German car maker expects to sell 150,000 units over the life-cycle. Such huge number of expected cars to be sold is because of Volkswagen's "driving fun at affordable prices" philosophy.



The Scirocco is based on the Golf V platform. However, it will be 10 cm lower, 4.5 centimeters longer and 3 centimeters wider. So, generally speaking, that sums up to 4.25 meters in length, 1.39 meterd in height and 1.79 meters in width. Prices are expected to be halfway between the Golf and the Eos, starting from 22.000 €.



Unlike other VW remake cars, the design of the Scirocco is not expected to recall old Sciroccos. There will be, however, an attempt to make the VW design more emotional. This will be visually seen in the big honeycomb grille in the front, long engine hood and a truncated tail. Also expect of course a modified VW fan to be among the other features of the new Scirocco.



The vehicle's engine is of two versions of the 1.4 TSI twin-chargers (115 and 140 hp); the 2.0 Turbo FSI with 200 hp, while a V6 engine is a possibility for an R32 or R36. It is surprising for VW not to have the 170 hp version of the 1.4 TSI engines, while a 2.0 TDI 140 hp diesel engine is thought to be a certainty.