#DIESELGATE: Volkswagen's Plan For New Cutting Edge Phaeton Flagship Go On Hold

Bentleys can easily be pulled off the Panamera chassis and the A8 chassis. A new Phaeton would be (1) duplication of effort and (2) a pointless waste of resources.

Other models throughout the various brands will likely be delayed or axed as well over the coming months. This particular one was questionable from the start and never really caught on. It was Piech's folly taking VW upmarket against established luxury brands but no one could tell him so. Would not surprise me if Phaeton never gets built again.

Piech is still there. If anything he may have gained power as the new CEO is his guy, and he tried to can the old one but lost that battle. Agree that the Phaeton makes no sense. Not doing it is a real test if VW can get its act together.

VW's "thing" is "practical, economical people mover." One of the big reasons VW has had such a hard time with sales in North America is because their purchase price and maintenance costs are out of line with that perception. Some of the big reasons the Phaeton failed the first time around were:
- VW's "thing" is "practical, economical people mover"
- People generally don't feel that VW and "luxury" belong in the same sentence. Buying luxury car from a VW dealer, or getting it serviced there just doesn't seem right.
- UberJetta styling does not say "luxury" to most people

The smart things to do with a car that you want to sell as a luxury vehicle are:
- Style it to look like a luxury vehicle
- Don't badge it with an economy brand
- Create a luxury brand for marketing and supporting the vehicle

Honda was the first to figure this out Acura, though they're not the best example. Toyota did it with Lexus. Nissan did it with Infiniti (and is still working on it). Even Hyundai figured this out with Genesis.

VW: You already have Audi and Bentley. Use them properly.

Your assessment of VW's disconnect in the American market is spot on.

Why VW hasn't instituted a "Hyundai" warranty yet I'll never know.

VW--as usual--isn't paying attention to the key markets.

The midsize sedan market has stylish options, so of course the Passat refresh makes it look more dowdy.

The compact sedan market has stylish choices, so of course the Jetta's styling seems to come from the Iron Curtain era.

Matt, VW would go broke paying its dealers to do repairs on a 100000 mile warranty. They have to engineer the vehicles not to fail in the first place, particularly in an USA market where owners are not "religious" about maintenance. There is no evidence that says VW can do that.

Both you guys are on the mark about VW not understanding the markets. Having had a couple of German divisions in my business you learn that it is cultural. The answer to any product problems was often that product was OK and proven in the German market; Americans needed to change what they do so it won't be a problem. Example; "No cup holders in German cars because Americans should not be drinking beverages while driving."

Steve, side note. I see VW admitted that the software is indeed on all the 3.0L diesels and therefore in your new Q5. They state that the 3.0 software is legal in Europe and poses no problem. They "forgot" to tell the EPA that it is in the USA vehicles. Interesting. See my comments about cultural issues.

Vette71: I hear ya. Yes, my 5-month-old 2015 Audi Q5 3.0 TDI is now implicated in the Dieselgate scandal, although it's unclear if it's just a matter of reporting emission-control "exceptions" as allowed by EPA law, as VW alleges, or whether the software (and its actions) would be ruled as illegal, even if properly documented and reported to the EPA. The dust has obviously still not settled on this scandal.

And my Audi dealer's statements are consist with yours about stubborn cultural issues. Months ago, my dealer used your cup-holder example, stating that it took the longest time for Audies to get cup-holders simply because the German designers / manufacturers decided against them, regardless of North American market demand or consumer expectations.