Back to The Drawing Board: VW Delays Tiguan, Passat Coupe, Golf, and Scirocco

Volkswagen’s new chairman Martin Winterkorn isn’t happy about the company’s product pipeline, and according to reports, he’s sending some of the automaker’s most pivotal products back to the drawing board. Among those being scrutinized are the Tiguan, Passat Coupe, Scirocco, and next-generation Golf/Rabbit.

According to a print-only article in UK publication Autocar (volume 251, No 5), the Passat Coupe four-door was scheduled to be unveiled in concept form at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, with a production model introduction at this fall’s Los Angeles Auto Show. An on-sale date was planned for mid-2008. But now, that schedule looks to have been pushed back a bit, as the model is now expected to receive a redesign before getting the green light, if indeed it sees production at all.


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JUGNU - 2/14/2007 11:04:19 AM

-1 Boost

Let me see/hear what the biass VW/Audi fans have to say now.

As they r the ones saying the term 'BACK TO DRAWING BOARD' more often.

Now VW 'BACK TO DRAWING BOARD'.

No cruel feelings,just using the same tone what VW/Audi fans use (especially in Toyota's case)

BTW Passat Coupe.....terrible idea.Jetta Coupe/Eos Coupe should be better.
I think Martin Winterkorn is right,'BACK TO DRAWING BOARD'.

JUGNU

IamEvilHomer - 2/14/2007 11:05:21 AM

+1 Boost

what? speak english

Bill - 2/14/2007 11:18:22 AM

+1 Boost

Martin Winterkorn seems to be going rampant at VW. To me, and I assume most other consumers, the Passat and Jetta as well as the Eos look just fine. The Tiguan is a concept that has gotten the green light for production and I think it looks pretty nice. Definitely a headturner in this class.

As the youth of today would say, "What is he smoking? "

EvoAudi - 2/14/2007 11:45:26 AM

0 Boost

WTF the tiguan is awesome why change it?

answer - 2/14/2007 12:06:49 PM

+1 Boost

I think a Passat coupe would be nice.

MercBasher - 2/15/2007 1:10:37 AM

+1 Boost

Nice maybe but a waste of engineering talent and capital investment.

Chip - 2/14/2007 5:49:40 PM

0 Boost

In my opinion...whats wrong with todays VW's?

Theyre too expenisve....all of em.

Theyre totally unreliable.....all of em.

S4cabriofoxone - 2/14/2007 9:33:29 PM

0 Boost

Nice A8L in the background.

JUGNU, why do you profile VW with Audi? I'm sick of that. They don't have the same management, they certainly have different levels of orginization (Audi is much better-organized), Audi has better reliability, Audi has better products...

chewy - 2/14/2007 9:55:19 PM

0 Boost

Maybe they will make the Tiguan look more like the concept. The Tiguan Concept looked awesome, some of the early spy shots showed a Tiguan that looked more toned down. If VW made it exactly like the concept (minus the obvious 20 inch wheels and color seats) it would totally rock and I am sure sell well.

I am not sure about the Passat Coupe. Obviously it will have a fairly hard time here with all of the badge snobs.

I never really like the IROC concept as it looked more like the next generation GTI than a Scirocco. I agree completely here.

Winterkorn did a great job at Audi and I am sure he will do fine with VW.

t_bone - 2/15/2007 8:33:43 PM

+1 Boost

Bring back the 2001 Microbus Concept and make it a reality!

DieselRules - 2/16/2007 12:50:14 AM

+1 Boost

It doesn't make sense till you read the article.
Here's a summary of why he's getting the engineers to go over the designs once more before production:

LESS GERMAN-STYLE ENGINEERING for PERFORMANCE and SAFETY.

More JAPANESE-STYLE ENGINEERING for LOW-COST and RELIABILITY.

Looks like VW has finally learned something from JAPAN:
Innovation does not bring profits.
Low-costs bring profits!
If they don't screw up, they could challenge Toyota.
(unfortunately, that is a huge "if"....)

MESSAGE TO VW: Can you please put some proper electrical connectors in your cars? My experience as a VW & AUDI owner (and former Toyota, Nissan owner) is its the cheap electrical connectors that seperate the cars from the Japanese.
Fix that, cut production costs, and you're golden!