Volkswagen working on a small and cheap car

I thought they already make "small and cheap" models... Get any cheaper and they will fall apart faster than they already do!

No, they need something smaller, at least in the US. Rabbit only comes in five-door I think. Doesn't it?

No, 3-door Rabbit is also available, and starts at $14,990. I think VW should just bring the Polo over and be done with it. They are losing a lot of potential customers to Scion, Hyundai, Kia, etc.

I'll take one in Tdi please!

Guess they are jealous of Renault's success with the Dacia Logan?

Although the picture here is quite ugly and doesn't resemble any past or present VW product, I agree with the idea.

This looks (and is mehcanically) much, much, much, better than anything else available in this price range.

So you can conclude that it is mechanically much better even though this is just a photoshop. Nice you have some really good technical skills. And to think of all the "mindless" Toyota fans who say their cars are great just because it is a Toyota ;).

VW does "compact" very well, as witnessed by the Golf being the highest volume model in the history of the car (note: "model" as in engine and drivetrain parts interchange, not "name" as in Corolla, where only side marker bulbs and wheel nuts are shared between current production and 30 years ago).

VW's Lupo and Polo would sell great in Canada, where we don't have as much $$$ to spend (and Civics and Cavaliers have been the top sellers for many years)

VW sold LUPO and Audi A2 models in Europe that got 80 MPG, and that was years ago (with a 1.4 liter TDI engine) and I can't figure out why they're hiding the best selling mini- and micro-cars in the world, and letting Honda and Toyota establish the market presence here.

VW: Great engineering, brain-dead marketing.
Toyota: Mediocre engineering, brilliant marketing.
Its easy to see which wins in North America.

Their marketing has gotten 250% better... it's just their image in NA that holds them back.

They are seen as unreliable cars, and I can see why.

If VWoA has any sense left at all, they will (HOPEFULLY) switch their production of American models to a new plant in the US or Canada, or even switching to one of their European plants... because the Mexican plants can't make a reliable vehicle. In Europe, I believe two VWs are on the top ten list of most reliable cars. In America, I'd bet that two VWs are on the BOTTOM ten list of least-reliable cars!

European built VWs are definitely better. But my Mexican VW ND TDI has had no mechanical isses, other than having to keep replacing motor-mount bolts that get stretched or broken from the TDI's torque.

VW built Golf's in the US in the early 80's but gave up and pulled out because they couldn't get American workers to build high-enough quality. I think there was a different mind-set in the Auto unions back then, and generally anything built in the US was crap compared to international standards (and hence the rise of the Japanese cars)