It’s no secret that Volkswagen’s U.S. chief Jonathan Browning is a fan of the sporty Scirocco coupe. He’s openly admitted that he’d love to see the car here in the U.S., and now he’s given the strongest indication yet that it may be coming here eventually.

Speaking with Automotive News (subscription required), Browning said that he is lobbying to start sales of the Scirocco in the U.S.

"That's a piece of the lineup that I would dearly love to see here," he said.

Browning went on to reveal that the U.S. market is unlikely to receive the current generation of the car, which was first launched in Europe in 2008, though its successor may certainly come. The key reason is a change in circumstances, with U.S. customers now much more accepting of small and fuel efficient cars than they were just a few years ago.

Browning also explained that the current Scirocco was launched during a time of global financial stress and was simply too risky to experiment with in the U.S. Now, with Volkswagen charging to become the world’s top automaker by 2018, the time might be right to bring over more models. To achieve its goal Volkswagen has stated that it would need to sell around one million vehicles in the U.S. alone.

Other models in consideration include the Volkswagen Passat Alltrack, which was received quite well in concept form at last week’s 2012 New York Auto Show, as well as a possible mid-sized crossover positioned between the Tiguan and Touareg. If built, this latter vehicle is likely to be a production version of the Cross Coupe Concept unveiled earlier this year.

Pictured above is the high-performance Scirocco R, which features the same 260-horsepower, turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder found in the Golf R but with drive going to its front wheels only.