Your piece on the VW Phaeton - a new one coming and is there any point when the first one 'bombed'?

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.

Agent00R - 2/5/2012 1:43:59 PM

+1 Boost

My only comment is this:

1) Most vehicles need a business case. Like every business there needs to be a profit. Thus, auto co.'s rarely produce a vehicle at a loss.

2) The Phaeton didn't meet sales expectations in the States.

3) The Phaeton was recognized as a magnificent auto but it was usually cited that folks would likely not shell out the coin for a VW.

4) Badge snobbery is a problem but it seems to work out in the end as they're easily accessible to the folks that DO want them at a competitive price.

I guess, in a way, the free markets prevail.

FromThePassengerSeat - 2/5/2012 4:00:28 PM

+2 Boost

Another Phaeton would be pointless given the existence of the A6 and A8, whichever one it would compete against.

vdiv - 2/5/2012 7:40:35 PM

+1 Boost

I don't think it would compete, it would supplement. Similarly the R8 supplemented the Gallardo, the Q5 supplemented the Touareg, the A3 supplemented the Golf, etc, etc. Even though VW and Audi are owned by the same parent company they retain their individuality as car makers. VW needs a halo car and the Phaeton is it.

FromThePassengerSeat - 2/6/2012 9:46:48 PM

+1 Boost

The R8 doesn't compete with the Gallardo, although it comes close, because it's cheaper. The A3 is a luxury Golf with an increased price to match. And the Touareg, I believe, is actually redundant much like the Phaeton: it competes with the Q7 and Cayenne.

kingsley - 2/6/2012 2:17:48 AM

+3 Boost

The Phaeton supplements the A8 because, unlike the Audi, it is a comfortable car, not designed to run like a stuck rat with no suspension. Audis are great (if you can follow Walter de Silva's increasingly Alfa Romeo-esque styling themes) for motorway travel but useless in towns or on 'normal' European roads, because the ride is just too hard. In spite of all the stories about this car not being a success, it does sell very well in some countries. I know there does seem to be a problem with lazy VW dealers in America, but this is far from true in Europe, where they tend to be excellent. I sincerely hope that the next Phaeton will not water down the wonderful qualities of this car, which we bought precisely because not only is it better built than increasingly flashy Mercedes and ugly BMW's, but also a more modest looking, dignified car that is not aggressively rich in its design, and does not look like a running shoe, unlike more and more of the cars designed today.

FromThePassengerSeat - 2/6/2012 9:50:39 PM

+1 Boost

But there's no conceivable reason for making the Phaeton when VW could have just poured the Phaeton money into improving the A8 instead. Better to have one amazing car than two worse ones.

MeanVulcan - 2/6/2012 10:29:12 AM

-1 Boost

You should talk coming from the land of the Concord, a failed, subsidized idea that completely and utterly missed the reality of our air transportation infrastructure.

All markets are different, in America we favor larger cars over sardine cans and mopeds. We favor free market over socialism. We favor not having to pay for an antiquated Royal family who do nothing but pose and pretend. Talk about out of touch with modern times!