VW Sales Drop 7.5% for August

Build a plant in the U.S. or Canada.

I agree, hopefully they can continue to improve their quality along with that. If they're going to take on VW they need to improve their reliability image in the American market.

That should read: "If they're going to take on Toyota"

ALL automakers continue to strive to "improve reliability". What VW needs to do is close its Puebla, Mexico facility and built its North American automobiles in the USA or Canada, where existing factories are vacant and the workforce cares a little more about quality.

Yes, folks, you read that correctly. American and Canadian autoworkers do indeed care about quality, and given a good design that hasn't been cheapened by shortsighted beancounters, they make great cars. Such has not been the case with Mexican workers, as VW has learned the hard way.

That said, I am sick and tired of hearing people rant about VW quality -- in the last several years, the goalposts have moved. The gap between best and worst is small, and VW today is as good as any automaker. In an industry where every component is globally sourced from the same set of sub-suppliers, it's very hard to claim that one brand name is significantly superior to the rest. Repetition of tired tales of quality issues -- some true, most repeated thirdhand -- doesn't really represent ANY manufacturer's brand history. Hyundai, for example, has high reliability, average performance, poor durability, and abhorrent material quality and refinement. Buyers accept this because of the price advantage that Asian automakers have. European manufacturers selling in North America have a severe exchange rate disadvantage, so they must charge a bit more. So the competing VW with high reliabilty, average performance, average durability, and class-leading material quality and refinement is lampooned by the automotive press for costing too much and not being reliable enough??? That's total rubbish!

VW is rapidly becoming a marginal brand in the US, its sales are rather pathetic - I say kick out all the top management in the US and start again. VW has cheap prices and decent products so either you blame the dealers or the VW management - take your pick!

Hollywood goes to far.....there's no way VW can compete w/ anybody but Rover and Jag on reliability. Their sales are off because of the Touareg 2's laundry list of recalls prior to shipping. :-)

I can only find one recall for the Touareg 2:
http://tinyurl.com/2p2p9f

Where did you find info on this "laundry list of recalls"?

VW quality is good and getting better. I agree with moto. My family has had about 5 different VW products and none of them suffered all of this so called quality issues. I think some people make these things up in their head. My brother had a Jetta and it never had one issue. He bought a Honda Civic EX and that car has had 3 major issues. Windows that failed to work twice now, and a transmission issue. But yet everyone here says VW is crappier than Honda, though our Honda's have had more issues than the VWs we have had. So I am confused at these perceptions.

and we won't purchase any more Honda products... And their maintenance is just as high as German cars...

the jetta should be face lifted since its a bit corolla ish.

atomicbri: we owned 3 hondas (2 currently) and owned a VW passat. our passat was problematic within 8-9 yrs with rattling sounds in the interior, trunk not closing, electricals and some other problems. as well as our 89 accord having a tranny issue and pwr window issue but both was fixed quickly. maintenence is fine on the honda and the vw was a little more to pay and fix. either way, no car is perfect. both out vw and honda suffered problems but our honda was better in our budget and was easier to fix. and its not new to me to hear problems with civics which im aware of.

looking at carsdirect and comparing the passat to its rivals is embarrising. the most expensive rounds to be the passat where most of the competiton starts under 20k. I don't think anyone looking for a family sedan would want a turbo for a typicall family sedan.

Htay, you do all your comparison shopping at carsdirect.com? Some of us actually live in the real world and drive cars when we're not tied to online work.

Believe me, the Passat is not in the same market as a $20k car. Driven back-to-back with other midsize vehicles, the base Passat has a much more refined and powerful engine, nicer interior, and decent (though not sporty) driving dynamics. It is very competitive as a mid-$20k family car. Please drive one before showing your ignorance here for all to read. And yes, turbos have been used for years in family vehicles by many manufacturers -- most recently including Acura in the RDX.

No, VAG is not perfect, but their cars are solid. In the case of the Passat, the $1000-$3000 extra you might spend on one versus the chief competition comes down to three big things: the euro/$ exchange rate, VW's superior engine, and class-leading interior materials. Don't believe me? Test for yourself. The 2.0T engine has won International Engine of the Year award multiple times, and it offers about 40 more horses than anyone else's midsize car base engine. The interior of VW's have for several years now been rated by all reviewing magazines as amongst the best in their classes -- read any review.

Am i biased? Do I own one? Nope, but if i were in the market for a new car, i would not discount VW (or any other manufacturer). Use facts to make decisions, and then you can post logical arguments why one vehicle suits you better than another. I would never say that any one vehicle is better than another, because everyone's needs are different.

Despite the ignorant brand-biased opinions from fanboys on this site, there really isn't a terrible auto manufacturer left in Europe, America, or Japan -- they all have pros and cons, but VAG strikes me as a company whose products are vastly better than their old reputation.

did I say it drives bad? No but thats not what Im saying. It does drive well and all VWs do. If VW can fix their image in the US to prove themselves worthy to be as good as hond or toyota, I'll put them on my list. They are improving, but not there yet. Vw doest have what im currently looking for except the Gti. But they shouldbuilt a plant here like what david said.

My 06 Mexican Jetta TDI is of excellent quality with no issues after 36K, a little better than my 2007 German built Passat. Both of these are much superior than the 2004 Acura TL that I used to own. That car had numerous problems.