Volkswagen bet big on EVs. Now it’s making room for gas-powered SUVs.

Volkswagen spent years preparing for an electric future. Now it’s clearing space on the assembly line for more gas-powered SUVs.

In April, the German automaker announced it would stop building its ID.4 electric crossover at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant. The factory would instead concentrate on higher-volume models, particularly the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport.

The Atlas has always had one big advantage over many of its three-row competitors: space. And I mean usable space, especially in that third row.

That’s quite a change of direction for a company that once regarded the ID.4 as central to its American ambitions. The electric crossover was supposed to bring Volkswagen into a new era of affordable, mass-market electric transportation. Instead, the company is making room for the kind of vehicle American