Monday Morning News

It's a slow day today news-wise but we did notice this... pardon our editorializing but...

Volkswagen To Go Out Of Business
Okay, AutoWeek uses the headline Volkswagen unveils plans for four new vehicles but we really think it smells of the end of VW. They're going to make another car above the Passat?! Dudes... dudes... not for nothing but the Phaeton, which is a wonderful, wonderful car, is not selling. What in the world makes you think another expensive VW is going to sell? Here's a great quote from the geniuses at VW (and from the AutoWeek article):

[Len] Hunt [from Volkswagen of America] says the four-door "coupe" will be above the Passat but won't be as expensive as the Phaeton luxury sedan. The Phaeton is priced at $67,355, with shipping. The VW car is similar in concept to the Mercedes-Benz CLS, which is styled as a sleek two-seater but has four doors.

"This is another area where we do not compete," Curran says. "There are a lot of BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes and Acuras sold around here. We need a presence for our owners" in the segment.

Prices weren't disclosed. Hunt says, "It will still be affordable."

Another area where you don't compete? Hello Len, the division is called Audi!

Len Hunt, this is Audi.
Len: Oh, nice to meet you.
Audi, this is Len Hunt
Audi: Nein!

Hey, VW, how about you work on making everyday cars? It's fine if they are just a little fancier and have a little more engineering than some of your competition but how about leaving the fancy-pants luxury stuff to Audi? And, really VW, don't you guys have to work on reliability before you start making some fancy cars?

Comments

[Limousine]

Good news, i like Volkswagen and thinks it will be cheaper than now!

[Derek Taylor]

Couldn't have said it better myself, especially about getting the reliability under control. I realize this is anecdotal, but over the past several years I can't remember one conversation with a VW owner when reliability hasn't been raised as an irritation or reason why "I won't buy a VW again".