VW Drops Phaeton in U.S.

Itsme · 11-16-2005, 12:08 PM

VW Drops Phaeton in U.S.
Brandweek
Volkswagen's U.S. marketers took a gamble on their upscale brand, the VW Phaeton. Yesterday they accepted the fact that they'd lost. The car, launched two years ago with a minimum striker price of $64,600, is being discontinued in America. VW was betting that affluent, status-conscious car buyers would buy the Phaeton, despite the fact that it came from a company not usually associated with high-end products.

The car, priced comparably with BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus, received favorable reviews but did not sell well. VW sold 686 of the cars through October, down 52.1 percent versus the period last year. The company had hoped to sell up to 5,000 the cars per year in the U.S. The move represented more bad news for the struggling automaker, whose overall sales are down 9.7 percent through October. In the first nine months of the year, the company has lost $960 million.

In the hope that exciting new advertising might help sales, VW in September fired its long-time ad agency, Arnold Worldwide, and signed hotshop Crispin, Porter and Bogusky, Miami, which had handled BMW's Mini division.

Grimm · 11-16-2005, 01:18 PM

They need to start selling the Polo in the US, and air that suicide bomber comercial to go with it.

Jeffbx · 11-16-2005, 02:27 PM

Well no kidding... who in the hell would buy a $65k Volkswagen?

Although I suspect that if you have one of those babies & you stick it in your garage for 20 years or so, you'll have quite a collectors item some day.

spigidygak · 11-16-2005, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffbx

Well no kidding... who in the hell would buy a $65k Volkswagen?

Although I suspect that if you have one of those babies & you stick it in your garage for 20 years or so, you'll have quite a collectors item some day.

686 people in this country. http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...14/148110.html

Mungo · 11-19-2005, 09:25 PM

This is actually a very nice car & very well built. Even has a V-12 option. It's just that many people do not even bother to test out the car when they hear the VW brand. They automatically think overpriced. If they marketed it under the Audi or Porsche brand it would have done much better.

gear02 · 11-19-2005, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mungo

This is actually a very nice car & very well built. Even has a V-12 option. It's just that many people do not even bother to test out the car when they hear the VW brand. They automatically think overpriced. If they marketed it under the Audi or Porsche brand it would have done much better.

also when people think VW they don't think high end luxury. It's like if Honda rolled our a $50000 car.

raimin · 11-19-2005, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mungo

This is actually a very nice car & very well built. Even has a V-12 option. It's just that many people do not even bother to test out the car when they hear the VW brand. They automatically think overpriced. If they marketed it under the Audi or Porsche brand it would have done much better.

um... volkswagon does not own porsche. The work together on projects, but Porsche is one of the last independant car companies.

Actually Porsche is buying volkswagon to make sure no one can get the design they did with volkswagon

sizemic1 · 11-25-2005, 08:44 AM

IMO, all VW's are overpriced in their respective classes. Even a moderately equiped Jetta is pushing almost 30k.

Jihforce · 11-28-2005, 11:09 AM

Yup. the passat is in the 40s now. i'm dropping VW off my list, along with its relatives. quality doesn't equal price.

yippiekiyeh · 11-30-2005, 09:24 PM

If VWs were more reliable I would guess that they would get more run, but with their list of problems I wouldn't even give them a first thought.

11-16-2005, 12:08 PM	#1
Itsme Vice Admiral Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 4,813	VW Drops Phaeton in U.S. VW Drops Phaeton in U.S. Brandweek Volkswagen's U.S. marketers took a gamble on their upscale brand, the VW Phaeton. Yesterday they accepted the fact that they'd lost. The car, launched two years ago with a minimum striker price of $64,600, is being discontinued in America. VW was betting that affluent, status-conscious car buyers would buy the Phaeton, despite the fact that it came from a company not usually associated with high-end products. The car, priced comparably with BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus, received favorable reviews but did not sell well. VW sold 686 of the cars through October, down 52.1 percent versus the period last year. The company had hoped to sell up to 5,000 the cars per year in the U.S. The move represented more bad news for the struggling automaker, whose overall sales are down 9.7 percent through October. In the first nine months of the year, the company has lost $960 million. In the hope that exciting new advertising might help sales, VW in September fired its long-time ad agency, Arnold Worldwide, and signed hotshop Crispin, Porter and Bogusky, Miami, which had handled BMW's Mini division.

11-19-2005, 09:25 PM	#5
Mungo Lieutenant Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: San Ramon, CA, USA Posts: 420	This is actually a very nice car & very well built. Even has a V-12 option. It's just that many people do not even bother to test out the car when they hear the VW brand. They automatically think overpriced. If they marketed it under the Audi or Porsche brand it would have done much better. __________________

11-25-2005, 08:44 AM	#8
sizemic1 Owww, I feel good! Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Beautiful Temecula CA Posts: 2,002	IMO, all VW's are overpriced in their respective classes. Even a moderately equiped Jetta is pushing almost 30k. __________________ [___] (O lllllll O) []==O=[]

11-28-2005, 11:09 AM	#9
Jihforce Vice Admiral Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 4,352	Yup. the passat is in the 40s now. i'm dropping VW off my list, along with its relatives. quality doesn't equal price. __________________ Auto Leasing Info @ RIDEwithG.com \| My Food & Travel Blog

11-30-2005, 09:24 PM	#10
yippiekiyeh A Friend of a Friend Join Date: May 2001 Location: WESTSIDE! Posts: 1,673	If VWs were more reliable I would guess that they would get more run, but with their list of problems I wouldn't even give them a first thought. __________________ Distributed.Net I'm Trying this blogger thang...

11-16-2005, 01:18 PM	#2
Grimm 100% Pure Evil Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 7,861	They need to start selling the Polo in the US, and air that suicide bomber comercial to go with it.

11-16-2005, 02:27 PM	#3
Jeffbx Fleet Admiral Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Michigan Posts: 9,390	Well no kidding... who in the hell would buy a $65k Volkswagen? Although I suspect that if you have one of those babies & you stick it in your garage for 20 years or so, you'll have quite a collectors item some day.

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