Epic Move Or Epic Fail? Volkswagen To Bring Phaeton Back To US Market

Why?

unless the car has a comparable price to the Hyundai Genesis sedan then yeah if this car is going to be $70k-$90k then forget it when you can get the Genisis

Fail, unless they make it a bargain because not only will it be competing with the established flagships from the traditional luxury brands it will also have to compete with the Equus, a car which will probably be its more direct competitor.

If they can get the price right why not the car itself has the quality its a little bland but its interior is phenomenal and sharing a platform with Bentley's entry level offerings certainly doesnt hurt it in the prestige department. The issue though is they still need an in between car Hyundai has the Genesis VW goes straight from a mainstream family sedan to a flagship luxury car just doesnt make sense. Also, if they would bring the Phaeton why not bring the Scirocco that makes better sense given the times...

The thing is the average buyer of the car won't know it shares a platform with Bentley. They will simply evaluate the brand prestige and most-likely decide the brand prestige doesn't justice the price tag. It is about being seen only car guys like you and I look at things like platforms.

your probably right whenever I see a Flying spur to me it looks obvious its based on the phaeton the overall profile is so similar but most people dont even know what a phaeton is. Lol a freind of mine actually thought I was lieing until I happened to see a use one of both models at a dealership and I showed him how similar they are in profile and than he believed me. With that said the phaeton needs more style of course dont borrow the look of the flying spur but something that makes it stand out other than on the interior

If Hyundai can do it, so can VW. They can fight it out for the most overpriced low level car award.

I would take the A8 with less features or pick one up used. Would be a really nice used depreciated car.

the reason it didn't go over well here is it was an overpriced VW version of the A8. Someone sees you driving this VW and says "oh you couldn't afford the A8?" Unless VW can keep the price around the Lexus GS range or the Hyundai Genesis range it just doesn't make sense to bring it here.

Price it $15K less than comparable A8 and then it might sell.

JUGNU

Fail..

I seriously considered the Phaeton when it first released, but found it a bit too 'anonymous' in both look and execution to be a true contender.

Given that this 'new' version is really little more than a long-overdue face-lift, I seriously doubt that it will fare any better than version 1.0.

I think it'll be a hit if priced @ 35K.

Ironically that what a new one will be worth once it goes over the curb.

Most of the A8 attributes with all the looks and anonyminity of a Passat with a pricetag just under an actual A8. And they wanna try this experiment again?

Now a diesel option may be a niche player.

Get over diesel is not the answer and only a few Americans like them.

Bad move, If they price it at 70k VW doesn't have the brand prestige to play in that space plus they are essentially competing against themselves with their Audi ownership.

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, I just a dumb-ass company that doesn't get the U.S. market.

....but fool me three times *pause* if you fool me, I can't be fooled again.

Maybe a bust pre-bubble, but might be more in tune with the times now that either everyone is broke or doesn't want to show off their wealth

Did not work when the economy was ok and clearly will not work in todays mess.

I vote for "epic fail". Some people never learn. Volkswagen Group already has a luxury marque. It's called Audi. It doesn't need another one. Volkswagen should not squander time, effort and money on a redundant luxury sedan when it could better use its resources to make the Volkswagen marque more competitive in the mass-market.

They should just make the Passat bigger, and have the CC replace it in that size class... I think the CC is their best looking sedan.

These will become an amazing deal, as they come off lease.

The Phaeton outclasses the Genesis and the Equus. It's not even on the same level even though they are both "economy" brands. But Hyundai is still on the bottom of the scale while VW is at the top and their build quality is by far the best when it comes to solidity. VW may be reaching a little too far but for those who aren't snobs or arrogant a-holes living up in the hills this car is basically just as good and just as comfortable as the full size luxury sedans out there. I've had the pleasure to ride in one before and it was good but not great. However I sat in others since it released and it only improved. The latest one seems to be even more refined. Too bad most of us are badge whores! :)

Bad move. They should just focus on a 2dr CC.