On a cold winter day, an old acquaintance visits Robert Schmid. His guest used to drive Volkswagens, but then he switched to the competition. Now he’s standing at Schmid’s desk at the Volkswagen dealership in Munich and is set on trying out a T-Roc. “We test drove it the same day. Right afterward, the customer bought the car. We won him back after more than ten years with our SUV offensive,” says Sales Manager Schmid.
The scene in Volkswagen’s Munich dealership is currently being repeated at many car dealers: Sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, are top sellers. In the past, Schmid remembers, all-wheel drive SUVs were mainly for people who took frequent trips to the mountains.