Germans Target U.S. Crossover Car Market

German automakers are taking aim at yet another Detroit niche. Buoyed by continuing success in the U.S. market, DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz division and Volkswagen AG are exploring whether to satisfy the American hankering for "crossover vehicles," pioneered by Chrysler Group's PT Cruiser, General Motors Corp.'s Buick Rendezvous and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus RX300. VW's Magellan and the Mercedes Vision Grand Sports Tourer, unveiled Monday at the North American International Auto Show, join a growing cadre of would-be offerings from European automakers who see a new kind of vehicle in drivers' futures. The Mercedes and VW concepts come as the Auburn Hills-based Chrysler Group is planning to build its own crossover. The Pacifica, which Chrysler hopes will prove as popular as its PT Cruiser and bread-and-butter minivans, is expected to arrive in showrooms in early 2003.