The new vehicles could be here in 18 months and VW plans to launch its vehicle against the Mercedes Benz R Class. It has been codenamed the C-tour and will be built at Mosel in Germany.

This type of vehicle will be a first for VW which has already marketed the premium Tourag SUV.

Opel is developing a car similar to the VW crossover idea and it is expected to be ready by 2009. It may be based on the Saturn, a product built for the USA.

The president of GM Europe, Carl Peter Forester, says the linking of the Saturn brand and Opel could open up totally new possibilities for the company. He says a new large Opel may well follow. At present, the Opel Signum station wagon is its most exclusive model.

And another European manufacturer thinking of changes in the upper end of the market is PSA Peugeot/Citroen where there is speculation the Peugeot 807 and Citroen C8 could be replaced with an SUV or van-saloon crossover similar to the Ford S-Max.