Remember Volkswagen Arteon? It's dead. Details here

Volkswagen, on Wednesday, announced a new initiative focusing on the brand's profitability. Under this strategy, the German auto giant is planning to streamline its product lineup. As part of the plan, Volkswagen has pulled the plug on the Arteon. The car brand has said that it will shift focus from lower-volume models to higher-volume ones.

Volkswagen has not specifically revealed which low-selling cars will be discontinued as part of the revised product strategy, but the company specifically called out the Arteon. The discontinuation of the Volkswagen Arteon comes as little surprise as sales of the sedan dropped nearly 69 per cent in 2022 to just 1,742 units in the US, one of the key markets for the brand. This was only a fraction of the automaker's more than 301,000 vehicle sales registered in 2022. However, Volkswagen has not said when the Arteon will be discontinued.

As Volkswagen's CEO Thomas Schafer has revealed, it will focus on several core models that bring more sales than the Arteon. He said that the company wants to reduce the complexity of its models as a strategy to fetch higher profits. The other methods include reducing the number of configuration options for each model on offer. Also, Volkswagen wants to optimize its manufacturing plants' production capacity utilisation to meet fluctuating demand in a better manner.

The German car brand plans to quickly implement its new profit-focused program, which has been dubbed as ‘Accelerate Forward | Road to 6.5’. As Volkswagen has disclosed, it wants the program to be up and running by October 2023. The company is seeking a 6.5 per cent return on sales through this program. The automaker also indicated that it aims to focus on more investments in its electric vehicle projects and the money for that would be coming out of its new profit plan.