On again, off again. Such has been the status of the Volkswagen BlueSport Concept. Last month the project was said to be on hold. Volkswagen engineering head Uli Hackenberg spoke to Autocar about this. He said the engineering work was all done, but the problem was finding sales numbers.
He said sales volumes weren’t adding up. To make the project work, the car would reportedly need to sell 50,000 units a year. It isn’t clear if this is a global figure or not. We always thought the BlueSport would work business wise due to parts sharing with one, possibly two platform mates. Those two models are the Audi R4 and a new small Porsche. The Porsche is rumored to be on ice, but today Hackenberg has clarified those comments to Evo.
An inability to reach 50,000 units was based on forecasts from Volkswagen dealers. He said “dealers are always looking backwards, not forwards….this is particularly the case when a new model is being considered as they don’t have any reference point to guide them, so they look around at the current market and give an estimate based on that.”
The problem with looking around at the current market is that Hackenberg says it is depressed at the moment due to lack of product. When the Toyota GT 86, Subaru BR-Z and next-generation Mazda MX-5 arrive he says the situation will be a different story.
In order to get the project approved, Volkswagen has asked dealers to reappraise their forecasts in hopes of getting it to the 50,000 mark. From day one we thought the BlueSport would get approved. We will say this though; if 50,000 sales is needed in just the U.S alone, we doubt the car will actually hit that. Hackenberg is confident the program will be approved, and he says if the BlueSport does get the go ahead the car will appear within the next three years.
