[lynnhoek]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703743504575493504267114766.html?KEYWORDS=volkswagen

Check this interesting article on Volkswagen USA. I was surprised to learn the Routan is being made by Chrysler. Worth a look....

 

[ZoomALH]

What does this mean ""A lot of people worry that we are going to start making VWs for the masses," says Mark Barnes, VW's U.S. chief operating officer. "I like to say we're going to bring the masses to VW."....I am fully aware that Volkswagen was too cautious for too long in North America," Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said at a test-driving event for the new Jetta in San Francisco this summer. His remark was a nod to the car maker's decades-long penchant for deploying cars designed for European tastes across the Atlantic. That left its U.S. operations with models too small and expensive to go head-to-head with Asian and American rivals. Now, he vowed, "we have turned that upside down."

Isn't the point of buying a European car because you want something different?

 

[thrab]

If the future of VW is what they're doing with the new Jetta (cheapening the car immensely) then I probably won't be buying another VW in the future. To be fair though there isn't really as much difference between a VW and an Audi as there is between Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus. The interior in my Golf is identical to the A3 (other than leather seats, which the canucks get for some reason). Even the suspension on the American Golf TDI is identical to the A3. Looks like they are wanting to make VW less premium to get more mass on the VW brand and make premium purchasers go Audi.

 

[mjovic]

If the future of VW is what they're doing with the new Jetta (cheapening the car immensely) then I probably won't be buying another VW in the future. To be fair though there isn't really as much difference between a VW and an Audi as there is between Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus. The interior in my Golf is identical to the A3 (other than leather seats, which the canucks get for some reason). Even the suspension on the American Golf TDI is identical to the A3. Looks like they are wanting to make VW less premium to get more mass on the VW brand and make premium purchasers go Audi.

Bingo. This is the beginning of the end of the VW brand as we know it here in America. Say hello to the next 20 years of watered-down, cost-savings part sharing across models (think GM). This is a sad time indeed. Buy up the remaining true VW's while you still can. You'll be telling your kids about what VW used to mean in the U.S. and how it had a huge enthusiast following and how they were different than the other cars (better, more refined, more standard features, better technology) and that's why you bought it and didn't mind paying a premium for it. You GOT it when no one else in America did. But that was the past. We're starting something new now and it's not good. That's why I am buying an Mk6 TDI and hope it will last me 10+ years to hang on to the last bit of the brand before it is killed. The new Jetta and their insulting advertisements says it all. VWoA has this all wrong from a branding perspective. They'll sell more cars at the expense of the brand. My friends, that's called selling out.

 

[grn04]

What about the "true" true VWs like the Beetle or Mk1 Golf. Since when did VWs become loaded up luxury cars like the $70,000 Touareg TDI or $100,000 W12 Phaeton? I'd say that was a step away from VW's identity but in Europe there's plenty of overlap so it can work both ways, just not in the US.

 

[thrab]

What about the "true" true VWs like the Beetle or Mk1 Golf. Since when did VWs become loaded up luxury cars like the $70,000 Touareg TDI or $100,000 W12 Phaeton? I'd say that was a step away from VW's identity but in Europe there's plenty of overlap so it can work both ways, just not in the US.

He is talking about the modern era which would be Mk5-6 really as far as we are concerned. Lamborghini used to be just tractors but do you see people scoff at them having one of the World's most renowned sports cars? He's just lamenting the passing of an era in which VW made the VW brand too well compared to the competition and it cut into Audi sales. My next purchase will probably be an Audi looking at their new strategy and that is exactly what they wanted to happen.

 

[jrocks]

Ford has to sell lots of V6 Mustangs to make enough money to sell the Cobras and special editions. VW has to sell lots of base Jetta if they want to sell the low volume models that the enthusiasts want like the R32 or GTD.

Like thrab said, that's what Audi is for.

I thought all carmarkers shared lots of parts across their models. Isn't the old Jetta a Golf with a trunk? Isn't the Passat basically a stripped down Audi A4?