I'm not sure if you guys really hear about VW's situation here in the U.S., but it is pretty bad at the moment. The above post does touch on it, but the getting rid of the Phaeton is the least of VW's worries in the U.S.

The new Jetta has gotten a luke-warm response, mainly because of Toyota Corolla-like styling and a high price. Now the Passat has seemingly been better recieved, but both it and the Jetta have just had VW-subsidized leases slapped on them because in Oct sales of all VW cars fell dramatically, that was on top of an already grim year.

VWOA is wise to get ride of the Phaeton over here and concentrate on their traditional cars because here in the U.S. VW is having a hell of a time trying to sell cars.

VW's biggest problem is price, something they really can't do anything about in such incentive-addicted market. The new Passat is without a doubt the best family sedan on the market, the 4-cylinder verson has a base price that is too close to V6 sedans from competitiors and the V6 Passat's base price on the high side too, but with options it can go to 40K!

M