Amazing how out of touch you Americans can be. No, the World does not revolve around the good ol' US of A! In fact the Phaeton has been quite successful in the Far East and China, and is a truly wonderful car, far better made and conceived that an S class or BMW 7. This is another example of badge snobbery, rather like the hoary old myth about Skodas (which you do not get, nor maybe deserve) in Europe, which have always been very handsome economical cars with a great pedigree and are now finally and deservedly massively popular.
I first saw the Phaeton at announcement, then at launch, in Holland, and have now purchased a late 2008 4.2 litre V8 second hand in new condition, having done 25,000 miles only, from our importer at a silly price, thanks to said badge snobbery.
Phaetons are now an even better buy at silly prices, having lost a huge chunk of value second hand (or pre owned as you prefer to put it). You are sadly behind the times and out of touch with reality regarding this wonderful car - and Ferdinand Piech is God when it comes to car design.
As noted by other correspondents, under the skin the Phaeton is much the same car as the Bentley Continental, and the Flying Spur has even been built on the same line in Dresden. Lately, demand for the Phaeton has gone up, especially in China, so I believe that Bentleys no longer share the line now.
In fact, look around and you will see that after the initial scorn the car now generally receives grudging respect, save that it simply has 'the wrong badge'. This merely says something about the poor level of consumer awareness, nothing about the car itself. People who know the Phaeton rave over it, and we are lucky to have something different from the masses who buy Benzes and Bimmers like sheep. And the car is vastly better to boot.