JimCorrigan
Well-Known Member
Is MacGuffin trying to suggest that Germans are not susceptible to brand marketing?
Is MacGuffin trying to suggest that Germans are not susceptible to brand marketing?
Yay! The Phaeton is back! Now I can fulfill my dream of buying a common unreliable VW for the price of an expensive unreliable Audi.
Looks more like a facelift of a long-in-the-tooth model than an all-new design, which I feel like a re-launched Phaeton really needed to succeed.
And you cannot discuss taste with anyone. [...]
Of course you can. For hours. Or days, months, years. That discussion must not be going anywhere and be productive, but that?s not always the point with discussions ... and I thought that you of all people would know this
I would take one of these is a heartbeat. Very cheap in the USA and the V10 is one hell of an engine. I have one in my "tow" vehicle and it is one of the best daily drivers you could have. I wish we could get the 4.2TDI here, but, sadly, ... no.
Volkswagen AG is delaying the introduction of the new Phaeton as the automaker seeks to improve returns on the slow-selling luxury sedan by lowering production and material costs, people familiar with the matter said.
Even though a new version of one of VW?s least successful models is ready for production, the manufacturer is again reworking the Phaeton, which costs more than three times the mid-sized Passat sedan, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the discussions are private. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based automaker didn?t comment on its plans for the model.
?There is always the element of the Phaeton being the answer to a question no one ever asked,? said Tim Urquhart, a London-based analyst at market researcher IHS Automotive. ?Who wants a VW limousine??
Herbert Diess, who previously headed purchasing and development at BMW AG, has been in charge of the VW brand since July.
VW Phaeton 3.0 V6 TDI LWB (2015) review
You may be wondering how this idea ever got off the ground. A luxury limousine? with a Volkswagen badge? The People?s Limousine? A Prime Ministerial ride for Jeremy Corbyn? Back in 1999, who would dare pitch that doozie to truly terrifying VW boss Ferdinand Pi?ch? Answer: no-one, but they didn?t have to. It was Ferdy?s idea.
The Phaeton is dead ? axed in the UK this summer after 13 years, ostensibly because its engine no longer cuts the Euro emissions mustard. But there?s another reason: nobody buys them. They sold just 31 in the UK last year (we probably bought more aircraft carriers than that!) and the decks need to be cleared for a new model on its way in 2017.
Let?s take the old girl for a final spin.
Surely only the chauffeur has to drive it?
If you?re this unostentatious you don?t have a chauffeur. Which is a pity because it means you?re stuck up front, leaving offspring and friends to enjoy the best bit: the ridiculous amount of space in the rear. Not only are you stuck up front, you seem also to be stuck in 1982, to judge by use of wood veneer so abundant a whole forest of caramel-coloured trees were surely harmed in the making.
This is odd, as the Phaeton dates back only as far as 2002, but you quickly realise that it?s really only the veneer (and an analogue clock sourced from a giant bucket just near the checkouts at Ikea) that makes it feel old. Oh, and the automatic gear selector (there?s veneer on that too!) which finally yields some royalties for the bloke who designed it back in 1971, if he?s still alive.