At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Volkswagen unveiled a CrossBlue Crossover concept that would be fitted in between the Tiguan and Touareg. That vision has started to become a reality with a $900 million USD investment to their Chattanooga factory that will see the three-row crossover be built in 2016.

The influx of funds to the plant is all part of Volkswagen's plan to double their U.S. Sales by 2018. In addition, Chattanooga will be the sight of Volkswagen's first North American design and development centre with 200 engineers that will focus their attention on the North American market.

The CrossBlue Concept (that will hopefully soon get a real name) is a seven-seat crossover that utilizes Volkswagen's new MQB platform. It fills a gap that seems to be in demand in North America, where the other Volkswagen SUVs cannot help out. It will compete against the likes of the Ford Explorer, Toyota Highlander, Hyundai Santa Fe, Nissan Pathfinder and the Honda Pilot.

“With the midsize SUV, the expansion of the Chattanooga plant and the new development centre, the focus is on the wishes of the U.S. Customer,” said  Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Volkswagen is planning for the new CUV to be a core vehicle that they will use to fulfil their sales goal in the United States. The other three main vehicles alongside the new CUV will be the Jetta sedan, the Passat and the Tiguan compact CUV. The new CUV will be built alongside the Passat and the Chattanooga plant can build up to 150,000 vehicles per year.