German Car Zone

VW should can the whole Phaeton project. Don't get me wrong, it seem to be a great luxury car but they VW board have to understand that nobaody want to pay 70k for a VW, the same way nobody wants to buy an expensive Daewoo TV-set or 6k Diesel watch. You simply have got to stick to your target marketes where your brand doesn't fit in.

Addressing that, see my earlier post:

I appreciate tha Americans ever since the 3er became the best selling luxury car...
Anyway, I think it's great that the Phaeton will cost 50-60k. It just feels like the right price for a VW.

I would say the failure is on both parties:

VW with the above mentioned Marketing & Dealership services & Past History in US with Reliability.

Majority of American customers not taking Phaeton seriously as a Luxury car (badge snobbery), past reliability history and Dealership services could play a part in this.

Anyway the Phaeton will be released once VW revitalises the US market with new products and marketing

I think reintroducing this car in the US through the existing VW dealer network is a serious mistake. I understand that the pricing will be different. I also understand that the Phaeton is an incredible vehicle. But the fact remains that dealers are, for the most part, simply unequipped to handle sales and service of such a vehicle.

Customers in this price/vehicle class demand a different experience. I have serious doubts about VW's dealers being able to accomplish that. Until that changes, the Phaeton will siffer the same fate this time around.

I once discussed the Phaeton with my dealer's head tech. He said after a few days of schooling on the model he felt like his "head would explode." This from an intelligent man who has been servicing vehicles for years.

I sincerely hope that I am wrong about this.

Chris

Yeah I'd have to agree that this would be a mistake, as much as I'd like to see the car return here.

I just said in another thread that VWoA wouldn't even think about selling the biggest VW here again and gasp(!) now this. Uh oh.

I've said all along that the dealers and price were the reasons why the car flopped here. I would bring over the SWB model V8 model and price it right on top of the E550/550i, about 59K with more standard equipment than either. The LWB model would be about 65-66K with a ton of standards that really shame the E/5. Yes I realize that the Phaeton is a bigger S/7-Series type car, but it can't possibly sell against that, may was well punch out the lights of the E/5-Series....getting buyers who don't care about the sportier nature of those cars (there are plenty), but who want S-Class/7-Series features and comfort for E/5-Series prices. Don't bother with the W12 version, nobody is going to play 90K for a VW no matter how much cheaper that may be compared to a S600 or 760Li.

VW's dealers have been a big problem for years and years so a Phaeton revival would depend on a re-invented dealer body, not gonna happen.

Brilliant car, but all-wrong on nearly every other front. Taking VW upscale in this country is a mistake. Providing the alternative to MB and BMW is Audi's job!

M

The funny thing is, VW really believed the Phaeton would be popular because it was a VW. They felt that affluent younger people would be attracted to the Phaeton because it does not carry the conservative image or the usual social connotations other luxury brands do ...it was slightly non-conformist. I guess they felt late baby-boomers and Gen X would be more open to the idea of a luxury 'peoples car' ....it seems they were wrong.

Ironically, in my opinion, Gen X and Gen Y are too vain for the Phaeton: generally, they are far more attracted to brands with unequivocal social-status; revering unambiguous symbols of success and prestige -- brands which communicate their status-value explicitly to onlookers. Unfortunately, the Phaeton gives off mixed messages -- its image might be too ambiguous, too unclear, for its intended market.

Earlier, I said I think consumers are beginning to appreciate that a brand can be multi-faceted -- maybe this is not the case for many consumers -- I guess time will tell.

Some Phaeton owners over at VW Vortex are toying with the idea of allowing servicing to be done at Bentley dealers... It's a plausible solution, but you pay a premium for servicing and the well-manicured gentleman at Bentley would scarcely want to entertain a Phaeton... Even though they are technically very similar.

A very aggressive market strategy and sales force is needed to sell the Pheaton over here in the US. It is not like a new Benz which will sell like hot cakes just by standing in the showrooms.
VW need advertise test drives in magazine and on TV, and simply try to get people to drive the Pheaton. That's the only way to get potential customers to realise how good of a value the car is.

As I've said before... great car... silly idea.