what the crap.... never seen one of those...

Did a little research after the post, pretty cool stuff

The chicken tax killed it. I bet VW would be in the small truck market if it weren't for the chicken tax. Thats why the single and double cabs disappeared soon after it was enacted. With as much as american's love trucks, a small vw truck with a diesel would sell like crazy! But the tax has been kept around to keep foreign companies from prying into our big 3 truck market (toyota and nissan have challenged it).

Funny enough, Ford is having to pay the price because their Transit is made overseas and they have to import the panel van's with seats to get around it. I've heard that after they arrive, the seats are ripped out and trashed just to avoid the tax.

Our good old government at work.

from wikipedia:

Ford currently imports all of its Transit Connect models as passenger vehicles by including very specific items, e.g., rear windows, rear seats and rear seatbelts.[1] The vehicles are exported from Turkey on cargo ships owned by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL), arrive in Baltimore, and are converted back into light trucks at WWL's Vehicle Services Americas Inc. facility simply by replacing rear windows with metal panels and removing the rear seats and seatbelts.[1] The removed parts are not shipped back to Turkey for reuse, but shredded and recycled in Ohio.[1] The process exploits the loophole in the customs definition of a light truck: as cargo doesn't need seats with seat belts or rear windows, presence of those items automatically qualifies the vehicle as a passenger vehicle and exempts the vehicle from light truck status. The process costs Ford hundreds of dollars per van, but saves thousands in taxes.[1]

It makes me wonder why Ford would have any trouble transporting the Transit to the U.S. . Ford is a American Corp. last time I checked. What about the late Dodge Sprinter .  It show up in the U.S. as a Benz then as a part of D./C. renamed  Freight liner then rebadged as a Dodge Sprinter after the split up of D./C. and Mopar getting in big trouble and now is being sold again as a Freight Liner at the truck dealers
    I wonder how Nissan, Toyota, Mazda manage to get away with "Chicken Tax" thing since the '60's ?
    I think VW is just to "chicken" (no pun intended) to try it again and is going in the wrong direction building Toyotas. Just another cookie cutter car. A 1950 Nash with its wheels all covered up ,  A Studebaker that you didn't know if it was coming or going, a Kaiser made out of left over Liberty ship steel, '50 Packard that looked like it was going to give birth at any minute  were cars you could ID from a distance Maybe not so pretty but different and they stayed out of the repair shops for the most part and you did not need a collage  degree from M.I.T. to drive one and the dang thing didn't call you a Big Dummy, Dumb Ass if you forgot to change tire pressure for summer/winter driving or a door fell off 2 miles back.

Well, I know that Nissan makes them just up the road, but upon looking at the tacoma, it is made in Mexico instead. BUT they classify it as a Mid-size pick-up, which might be why every truck manufacturer is bumping up the size a little. I wanted a small pick-up but ended up with a frontier, which is almost as big as an old full-sized truck. And aren't mazdas just a rebadged ford now?

As for all those old cars, you must need a "collage degree" to keep up with the "collage" of cars you maintain in your head. I would like to see VW make some new stuff with a little bit of personality, but I doubt that will happen soon.

ford ranger = mazda b2000
ford escape = mazda tribute
ford explorer = Mazda navajo

germany i assume, had plant passes on the windows, out of state plates