VW’s U.S. built sedan will be offered with a turbo-diesel variant

Some say it will be an overgrown Jetta or that it will replace the current Passat and will look a lot like the Passat CC. Details are still unclear about a new Volkswagen upper-medium sedan that has been confirmed to be built at its new U.S. plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. However, Automotive News Europe did some digging and found out some new inside info.

The car will go into production in early 2011 and will be slightly larger than the Passat. Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn says that it will be built on an existing vehicle platform and that the sedan is “proof of Volkswagen’s future in the United States.” A future, that Winterkorn hopes brings U.S. sales to 1 million in the U.S. by 2018.

Jochem Heizmann, head of production on the new model said that it was very crucial that Volkswagen built a sedan that suits and satisfies its American consumers. He said that the sedan will be offered in a dual-clutch transmission and will come in two engine types: gasoline direct injection and direct-injection turbo-diesel.

Volkswagen expects 30 percent of the sedans to be diesel.