VW estimates Trump’s trade policies cost U.S. operations $5.8 billion annually
Volkswagen said Wednesday that Marco Schubert, a long-time company executive, will take responsibility for its North American business in October, succeeding Kjell Gruner. The appointment marks the second leadership change in Volkswagen’s North American business in less than two years.
The leadership change comes as Volkswagen’s group sales in the U.S. fell by around 14% last year and another 7% in the first half of 2026 compared to the prior-year period, according to the company. The German automaker estimates the annual hit to its business from President Trump’s trade policies at the equivalent of $5.8 billion.
Volkswagen imports most of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. and operates one small factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where it builds the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport SUVs. In April, the company ended U.S. production of the ID.4 electric vehicle.
The U.S., with about 16 million total annual vehicle sales, has long eluded Volkswagen. Sales of its namesake brand peaked in 1970, the era of the Beetle and the Bus, before Japanese rivals overtook the company. While Volkswagen has recovered ground this century, particularly through its luxury brands Audi and Porsche, its group market share in North America hovers around 4%, far below its dominant positions in other markets.
For successive Volkswagen chief executives, modest U.S. sales have signaled a growth opportunity. Martin Winterkorn, who ran the company from 2007 to 2015, set a goal of selling 800,000 vehicles in the U.S. The plan created pressure that the company has acknowledged contributed to its diesel-cheating scandal.
Winterkorn’s successor Herbert Diess pursued redemption through electric vehicles, with a 10% U.S. market-share goal. His signature products included the U.S.-made ID.4 and the imported ID.Buzz, both of which struggled to find traction even before the Trump administration withdrew Biden-era EV subsidies.
Current CEO Oliver Blume is prioritizing lineups tailored to different regions rather than selling similar cars worldwide. Blume has invested in Scout Motors, a project begun under Diess to revive a historic SUV brand as an all-American EV startup. In the Trump era, Scout has pivoted to extended-range EVs, a hybrid format that includes a small internal combustion engine alongside a large battery.
Volkswagen has also committed billions of dollars to Rivian for access to the U.S. company’s vehicle electronics and software. A Scout factory under construction in South Carolina isn’t set to deliver vehicles before 2028.
Schubert, unlike Gruner, will report directly to Blume. “We will intensify our commitment in the most important growth market for the Volkswagen Group,” Blume said in a statement.
In a Q&A published on the company intranet last month, Blume said, “Our cars are becoming more expensive and therefore increasingly difficult to sell, not because they have become inferior but because the rules of the game have changed.”
Tariffs have brought fresh urgency to localizing production in the U.S. Volkswagen has said it is exploring options to bring a new, high-volume vehicle to Chattanooga focused on American customer needs but has declined to give further details.
Independent analyst Jürgen Pieper said Schubert’s appointment, as an Audi veteran, to the top U.S. job could make an American factory dedicated to the luxury brand more likely. Last month Audi launched the Q9, a full-size SUV it described as “inspired” by the American market, though the vehicle was largely engineered in Germany and will be made in Slovakia.
A broader, long-awaited U.S. strategy for the Volkswagen group has yet to emerge. Blume has focused on a second major restructuring plan that could bring total job cuts on his watch to up to 100,000. He has also retired the 10% U.S. market-share goal inherited from Diess. “Of course, we’re currently feeling pressure from trade-policy issues,” Blume told reporters in March.
Gruner joined Volkswagen in December 2024 after a stint at electric-vehicle startup Rivian.