VW Robust Pickup Spied in U.S. Plus Rendering

Amidst the recent surfacing of several conflicting reports, spy photographers caught Volkswagen’s upcoming pickup truck in the U.S yesterday. The largest rumor was that VW won’t be selling the truck in Europe, however, sources have stated that it will be available in pickup form – in select areas – in very limited numbers – although none will be built in Hannover, Germany, as originally planned. Instead, all production, which includes a closed back version, will take place in Pacheco, Argentina. The closed back variant will not be available in Europe.

Volkswagen is still planning on building about 90,000 units annually for South and Latin American markets, although we doubt (to the dismay of VW fans) that they’ll bring any to the U.S., as the dealers were unhappy with the presentation materials and demographic group associated with such a product – as it’s beneath what North American VW buyers expect in the brand.

The “Robust” name is just a working codename which will most likely be changed before the market launch in the end of 2009 as a 2010 model.