Volkswagen is planning to add hybrid versions of its most popular U.S. models, the Tiguan and Atlas, as car shoppers continue flocking to fuel-efficient vehicles with gas prices remaining stubbornly high. But fans of the German automaker’s SUVs will have to wait a while to get them.
Volkswagen spokeswoman Jessica Arntson said in a statement provided to USA TODAY that the company “plans to introduce hybrid variants of our core SUV models – Tiguan and Atlas – at their midcycle refreshes.”
The Tiguan was redesigned in 2025 and the Atlas has been redesigned for 2027, meaning both vehicles are likely two to three years away from getting hybrid versions.
The news comes as car shoppers have been flocking to hybrid vehicles this year amid rising fuel prices.
Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox Automotive’s director of industry insights, said on a recent sales briefing that although drivers haven’t moved to fully electric cars the way supporters had hoped as gas prices rose, hybrids have been the bigger beneficiary.
“Hybrid vehicles continue to be the clearest growth story in the electrified market,” she said, adding that hybrid car sales volume increased 23% from the second quarter of 2025 to the second quarter 2026.
Why Volkswagen Is Shifting Toward Hybrids
Volkswagen said in a September 2026 announcement that it is planning to focus on “segments that show the strongest market demand and best meet the needs of customers and dealers in the region.” “Successful models will be further strengthened, the portfolio expanded, and Volkswagen’s presence in the growing HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) segment accelerated,” the company said.
Volkswagen announced earlier this year that it was ending production of its U.S.-built ID.4 electric crossover, a sign of the auto industry’s retreat from electric vehicles as customer demand and federal support for the technology recede.
At the same time, the company announced plans to add hybrid versions of its top-selling SUVs in America in the coming years. Volkswagen doesn’t currently sell any hybrid models in the U.S. Its only domestic electric car now is the ID. Buzz minivan.
Volkswagen’s outgoing North American CEO, Kjell Gruner, said in an April 2026 interview with the “Auto Titans” podcast that his company is pivoting away from EVs in the U.S. for the same reasons other automakers are: Customers didn’t buy them as much as hoped.
“The EV demand changed,” Gruner said. “So, it’s rather at 5% of the market now and not 10% of the market, so that’s why we had to change.”
The Atlas and Tiguan are important to Volkswagen’s future in the U.S. In 2025, the company sold over 71,000 Atlas SUVs and more than 55,000 Tiguans in an otherwise down year for its domestic sales, according to figures released by the company at the end of last year.
How Other Carmakers Are Turning to Hybrids
Even as carmakers cut back on EV production at the start of President Trump’s administration, the hybrids they were already making became more attractive to consumers as fuel efficiency gained importance.
In 2025, there were about 13.9 million non-plug-in hybrid vehicles and nearly 1.8 million plug-in hybrid vehicles registered on U.S. roads, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuel Data Center. By comparison, the agency said there were about 5.7 million fully electric cars and over 240 million gas cars registered in the nation last year.
At the start of the second Trump administration, the White House and Republicans in Congress moved to eliminate the popular $7,500 EV tax credit offered by the federal government since the tail end of former President George W. Bush’s administration. Trump also moved to cut funding for electric vehicle chargers approved by former President Joe Biden.
Carmakers reacted to the shifting winds in Washington by cutting back on many of their plans to introduce new electric models. But automakers that have been marketing hybrids for years, like Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Kia, have reaped the benefits as gas prices surged.
Why Shoppers Are Considering Hybrid Cars
Record-high gas prices have driven shoppers to consider hybrids more often.
The average price of gas on Thursday, Oct. 8, was $4.36, according to AAA. That’s up from an average of $4.15 on Sept. 8 and $3.11 a year ago.
Despite those increases, polls show there is still hesitancy among some drivers about going fully electric. Car buyers have been telling pollsters for years that they have major worries about the battery range of electric cars, a concern dubbed “range anxiety.”
According to a poll released in January 2026 by the EVs for All America group, an advocacy group that works with car manufacturers to push U.S. and state lawmakers to adopt EV-friendly policies, 20% of 600 respondents to a poll intended to survey potential EV buyers in 2025 said their top concern about plug-in models is that charging networks are unreliable.
That’s where hybrids come in. Most regular hybrids have batteries that get their power from regenerative braking, according to Edmunds, an automotive industry research group that also tests and reviews cars. That means drivers don’t have to worry about hooking up to a charger at all. Hybrid cars operate on battery power usually for shorter, low-speed portions of a trip and switch to gas when necessary for longer, higher-speed trips. Some hybrid cars can get over 500 miles on a single tank.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, usually have a significantly larger battery pack that allows the car to be operated on electric power for stretches that can last about 40 to 50 miles, according to Edmunds. Plug-in hybrids have been seen as a compromise option for people who want to experience electric driving but are not ready to commit to a fully electric car.
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