Can They Make It? Volkswagen Eyes US Sales Of 800,000 Within 6 Years

By 2018, the brand aims to sell 800,000 vehicles a year in the United States, a level never attainted in VW's 57 years of selling vehicles here. The brand sold 324,402 units in the United States last year. The goal, set in 2008, is central to VW Group's bid to overtake General Motors and Toyota Motor Corp. and become the world's top-selling automaker by 2018.

But what, exactly, will it take to get there? VW Group of America CEO Jonathan Browning and other executives have talked in general terms about improvements needed for VW's product lineup, vehicle quality, North American manufacturing capacity and dealerships.

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vdiv - 8/14/2012 2:59:20 PM

+2 Boost

VW's will soon be sold at your nearest Costco in a pack of three. As always no bags or any help will be provided for you to carry them out ;)

USNA1999 - 8/14/2012 4:48:32 PM

0 Boost

I like VWs (we have a TOUAREG) but most in this country, which is full of uneducated hicks, will never accept VW; just like TOYOTA/LEXUS sales in Europe will never grow as much since Europeans fail to accept Asian cars.
Pondosinatra you are absolutely correct, quality will suffer like it did for GM and TOYOTA while wanting to become the biggest auto manufacturers. I will still purchase one the new TOAUREGs or GTI.

USNA1999 - 8/15/2012 12:12:40 PM

+1 Boost

pondosinatra it depends, I have never purchased a car based on reliability. As you can see, my wife opted for a TOUAREG for numerous reasons, she could care less what Consumer Reports had to say about the vehicle (BTW I could have purchased her almost any SUV in the market).
We have some friends that recently traded in a 2010 MDX for a 2012 HYBRID TOAUREG. They love it and they claim its a better vehicle than their MDX.
Another friend of our just purchased a JETTA for their kid heading to UF this year, he tested a CIVIC, COROLLA and a SENTRA but they opted for the JETTA.
It might be that some consumers make their decisions based on their income brackets and discretionary income, it appears that the higher the bracket the less they care about reliability.

HighDesert - 8/16/2012 3:34:10 PM

+1 Boost

If VW brings the Polo and its variants and provides more options for diesels, they could conceivably meet that mark. Their cars are definitely a step above others, regarding interior and handling, than competitors in the same price bracket. Reliability is improving, but VWs reliability will likely be lower simply because they incorporate more of the extra cost amenities into the base models, e.g. turbochargers. And, reliability is fraught with confounds, e.g. the buyer of a compact Corolla is far less likely to push the car than the buyer of a compact Golf GTI. And, personally, I am much happier driving a Golf TDI with stock GT suspension, than I would be in a comparably priced Prius.

lexworld - 8/17/2012 10:20:28 AM

+1 Boost

....Bottom line with this is that the people who think VW will surpass Toyota are in denial. It will take years before VW comes close to the reliability of the Japanese and by then the Japanese, namely Toyota/Lexus will be far advanced overall. You simply cant beat the Japanese in the game of electronics...Only one exception: Mac! As in now deceased Steve Jobs.