The Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück now only produces T-Roc convertibles. Automobilwoche has learned that German defence company Rheinmetall would like to set up production of armoured cabins for military trucks at the plant.
A potential partner of the project could be MAN - one of the leading manufacturers of commercial and military vehicles. The head of Volkswagen, Oliver Blume, has previously confirmed his willingness to consider the possibility of producing military vehicles at the plant.
An obstacle to the retooling of the company may be the IG Metall trade union, which opposes the production of military vehicles at the car plant.
Interestingly, the only production convertible in Volkswagen's current model line-up has good sales in the European market. In 2024, 10,700 T-Roc Convertible were sold, making it the second most popular convertible in Europe after the MINI One/Cooper.
The T-Roc Convertible was ahead of the Porsche 911 (8.1 thousand units), BMW 4-Series (7.2 thousand units), Mazda MX-5 (6.4 thousand units) and BMW Z4 (5.5 thousand units).
Source: Automobilwoche
