Originally posted by tgagneguam+Jul 17 2004, 06:22 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (tgagneguam @ Jul 17 2004, 06:22 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-desmo9@Jul 17 2004, 03:41 AM
And what's our only option in the U.S?
VW Golf.
Or Saturn Ion, if that type of thing floats your boat. Funny, I and many an auto enthusiast I've spoken to would be happy to own an Astra or a Vectra... but few would touch a Malibu or Ion, and Cobalt remains to be seen.
What's this tell us about GM?
Alas, you're right, we don't have a compelling option in the US. I actually prefer the more upscale design of the Astra than the Cobalt, though admittedly I have not ventured to Europe since the new Astra was born and cannot say that with 100% certainty. And somehow the Vectra comes off better than the Malibu, too.
I still think the point is valid: Piech's forays into the luxury arena have come at the expense of maintaining the bread-and-butter cars of the VW line (and that's perfectly fine by me). There's nothing wrong with expanding your model range, per se. But when it comes at the expense of your established vehicles, as has been the case with VW, then there's a problem.
This point is maintained irrespective of what GM does well or incorrectly. [/b][/quote]
We actually batted this one around for dozens of pages, and I'm sure you took part in the discussions on occasion. Thus, I intentionally avoided going back to the heart of that matter. With respect to the rest of VW's lineup, which some allege was overlooked as a result of Phaeton's resource base? It's all been speculative. The Touareg has done well, Passat is holding its own, so we have the Golf Mk5 and Jetta. Yes, it would have been good for VW to get them on our shores, any shores, a year or two ago. But there is no evidence that their delay is the result of resources traded-off to the Phaeton program.
OK, one can argue that resources are finite, so it's inevitable that VW's bread and butter suffered as a result of Phaeton. Vis-a-vis, suppose Cadillac develops the Sixteen and it flops, because people don't associate Cadillac with over-$100K motoring. Will we criticize GM for wasting resources that should have gone to the parched mainstream lineup? Arguably, a $65K VW no more ostentatious than a $150K Cadillac. But in either case, the value of the investment transcends the balance sheet for the offering to how it impacts overall brand value. Even if you're just peddling $20K hatchbacks, that brand value may be the difference between getting $19K each or, per the GM-way, $15K. How many people were less sticker-shocked by the $45K Touareg they were considering, in part due to the handsome $65K sedan of the same brand, parked within an eyeshot?
The main strike against the Phaeton, ironically, had nothing to do with the car itself. It stems from bland-looking Audis, creating an inter-divisional quandry. The dreaded overlap most cite would have been alot more tolerable had Audi raised the bar and set itself apart. The milk-mouth nose job was hardly sufficient. In fact, VW might be wise to pull the Phaeton off the market now that it could be seen as the most desirable sedan in the VW-group portfolio.
