Mankato Motors

Filed under: SUV, Plants/Manufacturing, Volkswagen

When Volkswagen opened its new Chattanooga factory, there were lots of questions about what else it was going to build there, since Passat volume wouldn't come close to soaking up the facility's 150,000-unit capacity. A three-row crossover was often mentioned as another model, with Automobile reporting that a possible 180,000-unit expansion could lead to Porsche, Audi and VW CUVs being built there.

Now Car and Driver reports that a three-row Honda Pilot and Ford Explorer fighter will be built, and it will "almost definitely" be assembled in Tennessee or Mexico. It might use the Passat's platform, the rumored engine is VW's 3.6-liter V6, and its MSRP is expected to strongly challenge those of its competitors (in the manner of the Jetta and Passat's newly competitive price strategies).

The same report claims that VW is working on a Tiguan more suited to American tastes, which probably means turning it into something more like a Jetta crossover than a Golf CUV. Last year, there were several reports that Volkswagen was considering moving both Golf and Tiguan production to North America, and a Stateside-leaning Tiguan might mean now is the right time to do so.

More details on three-row Volkswagen Tiguan for U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Etc., Technology, Crossover, Nissan

Those of us bumping around on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder may still be waiting for wealth to trickle down from the Reagan years, but at least technology is becoming more accessible. Nissan has just announced that the lowly Rogue will be the first vehicle in its humble class to be available with the company's Around View monitor - a system that is typically found on high-end metal like the Infiniti QX56 and the BMW 7 Series. Using an array of small cameras positioned around the exterior of the vehicle, Around View provides the driver with composite video of the the vehicle's surroundings.

In our experience, the system is a huge help in tight parking areas as well as towing situations. Around View will be available on the 2012 Nissan Rogue SL, and the company is pitching the camera array as an alternative to self-park mechanisms on more expensive crossovers. We're not sure we'd go that far, but we are impressed that the tech has arrived on a more accessible model. Hit the jump for the full press release as well as a video demonstration of the system in action.

Continue reading 2012 Nissan Rogue gains optional Around View Monitor [w/video]

2012 Nissan Rogue gains optional Around View Monitor [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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