Originally posted by SmallBlock@Feb 17 2004, 01:32 PM
I'm sure that it is a very nice car, and can go through its paces commendably, but in a price range that borders on atmospheric. a certain amount of cachet is desired. These are vehicles that are meant to bestow (or portray) an air of elegance and exclusivity upon their owners.
No matter how you cook it (or apologise for it Desmo9), the Volkswagen brand does not conjure up images of sophisticated refinement. Its North American marketing scheme since its inception has revolved around being the anti-establishment vehicle of choice. The Phaeton goes completely counter to that by saying Volkswagen now IS the establishment. You could have confused the consumer more only by making a military-issue Beetle.
That is why the Phaeton will not be warmly received on these shores. Not because it isn't a well executed machine, but because it is a car in the wrong brand at the wrong time.
It
is all about image. If VW wants to move upmarket, then it means moving into territory currently occupied by Audi. It also means "ignoring" the lower market for a while. How to fix that? Move Audi in another direction. Strengthen the lower market.
Let's see. Thus far, there is nothing going on in the lower market, other than the new Golf, which has failed to meet sales expectations thus far, and is meeting stiff competition from Opel in Europe, resulting in "incentives" from VW (free A/C). And VW is concentrating on a car between Passat and Phaeton. <_< Audi is seemingly moving into a more sportier segment. And those effects remain to be seen. TheCarConnection.com has pictures of the new A6 -- 5 engines, new front grille, and what I deem to be the most complex, convolued, and ugly dash I've seen in a long while. VW isn't doing well at all this year.
Phaeton hasn't been warmly received in the US (and Europe) because of a lot of things. It's mainly the image it's portraying, the high price tag (higher in Europe). No doubt that Phaeton has a lot of cool bells and whistles and the innovative "vent-less" climate control system, and 4Motion standard, but the people who can afford a car in this segment essentially wouldn't be caught dead in a VW.