Volkswagen is admitting defeat with the Phaeton, and plans to pull the slow-selling luxury sedan from the U.S. market next summer. The executives decided Volkswagen will focus on being a volume player in the U.S. market instead of trying to move up-market, spokesman Hans-Gerd Bode says. “We are a volume producer, and let’s go in this direction, beginning with the U.S. market, where we are losing a lot of money,” Bode said. Chris Curran, a Volkswagen dealer in Stratford, Conn., aptly points out that the Phaeton represented too big a jump for traditional VW buyers to make. At the same time, he says, luxury buyers did not gravitate to the car. “People in that high-price range are buying prestige and image, and want the logo to represent that.”
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11/14, 7:43 PM
posted by:
HECTOR
I am not a brand snob and I tell you that if I had the money I would buy a Phaeton over a 7 series or an S class any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
However, I can understand that people that shell out $80000 for a car want something more than VW on the grill and so this superb car is not selling well. Which works well for me because maybe I’ll be able to afford one sometime in the future.
In the meantime VW must seriously reconsider it’s pricing policy in the USA. I was waiting for the new Passat like Christians wait for the second coming of Christ. Underpowered in its 4cyl version and vastly overpriced in its V6 version. $38000+ for a Passat? What exactly are they smoking at Wolfsburg? No thanks, not when I can get a G35 for much less money.
If VW will think about it they will come to the conclusion that *the people’s car* shouldn’t be priced near a 3 series BMW. Make the choice easier for people and they will come to you.
PS – I’ve heard a lot of complaints about VW’s dealerships. That’s another area they should clean up.
11/15, 11:44 PM
posted by:
JSP
I’m sure many people are thinking, “I told you so…” It’s more difficult for me to believe that VW tried this move in the first place.
12/13, 10:09 PM
posted by:
sondjata
I think the Phaeton is an excellent car. I guess it will be like the original 6 series: Hard to spot,
12/16, 11:29 PM
posted by:
Caleb
Volkswagen should have never tried to go up-market, what ever happened to the high quality, reliable, affordable cars? they passed Honda’s and Toyota’s in every way, but since they tried to move up closer to BMW and M-B they just arent doing well, what ever happened to the sporty compact that was hip, and teens like me could actually afford them? something like the Jetta used to be… affordable at just around $14,000, i’ve done research and Volkswagen just cant do this, the company cannot just leave us hanging, to just be able to afford the crappy Honda Civic’s and the bland Toyota Corolla and mediocre Nissan Sentra’s. What im trying to say is that Volkswagen cannot just abandon the lower middle end of the market and suddenly go up-market to compete with luxury carmakers, it wont work out, that part of the market is for Audi, NOT Volkswagen. Volkswagen bulds awesome cars, no doubt, they have the high quality interiors and German engineering, but the most a VW should be priced at is around $31,000, no higher…the Jetta should start from around $15,000(whatever happened to the crank windows? and the cloth seats?) The Passat should start at around $18,000, the Toureg should be priced around $26,000(why cant you get cloth in it?) Volkswagen should really think, its hott here in Florida and the leather and leatherette seats just dont cut it for us, cloth is nice all the time. What does everyone think about this? Do you agree or disagree?