That the title of the article on pg 20 of this Septembers Motor Trend magazine. It seems the add campaigns over here in the US are possibly out of an act of despiration. That would make sense for the VW emblem being all over your TV as of late. Anyways, read on. You might learn something. I'll now quote some of the article:
"It's no secret Volkswagen is preparing a modern, decidedly nonretro Scirocco sport coupe for the last part of the decade. But it's also working on a new version of its retro cutemobile, the New Beetle.
Volkswagen, which has slipped to sixth place among seven major-volume imports to the U.S. with about 244,000 units per year, is still Europe's biggest automaker, but it's facing General Motors-like labor-cost problems. It has to repair Ferdinand Piech's plans to compete with Mercedes, in light of a VW AG board's vote of confidence earlier this year for corporate chief Bernd Pischetsrieder.
VW division's stout Germanic craftsmanship and envy-inducing quality interiors have created cost problems-it's said to lose money on every golf it builds-on top of poor potential quality scores in the U.S. "'Were in the middle of a bad right now,'" says VW of America's sharp new chief, Adrian Hallmark. He and VW brand chairman Wolfgang Bernhard are hashing out the future of the automaker in North America in order to aim it toward the good. Here's what were likely to get:" [End Quote]
Then it goes on to name the 2008 Jetta Wagon, the 2008 Passat Four-Doo coupe, the 2008 Concept A production, 2008 Polo Sedan, and 2009 Scirocco. The 2009 Scirocco hasn't been approved for import yet but is to have a twincharged (turbo and supercharged) four, 1.4-liter making 170 horses. Then again it goes on to say that the 1.4 costs VW twice as much to make as the inline-5, so don't expect it in any entry level vehicles, and it won't get the same hp on the US's lower octane fuel.
Anyways, I just wanted to type out the article for anyone interested.
"It's no secret Volkswagen is preparing a modern, decidedly nonretro Scirocco sport coupe for the last part of the decade. But it's also working on a new version of its retro cutemobile, the New Beetle.
Volkswagen, which has slipped to sixth place among seven major-volume imports to the U.S. with about 244,000 units per year, is still Europe's biggest automaker, but it's facing General Motors-like labor-cost problems. It has to repair Ferdinand Piech's plans to compete with Mercedes, in light of a VW AG board's vote of confidence earlier this year for corporate chief Bernd Pischetsrieder.
VW division's stout Germanic craftsmanship and envy-inducing quality interiors have created cost problems-it's said to lose money on every golf it builds-on top of poor potential quality scores in the U.S. "'Were in the middle of a bad right now,'" says VW of America's sharp new chief, Adrian Hallmark. He and VW brand chairman Wolfgang Bernhard are hashing out the future of the automaker in North America in order to aim it toward the good. Here's what were likely to get:" [End Quote]
Then it goes on to name the 2008 Jetta Wagon, the 2008 Passat Four-Doo coupe, the 2008 Concept A production, 2008 Polo Sedan, and 2009 Scirocco. The 2009 Scirocco hasn't been approved for import yet but is to have a twincharged (turbo and supercharged) four, 1.4-liter making 170 horses. Then again it goes on to say that the 1.4 costs VW twice as much to make as the inline-5, so don't expect it in any entry level vehicles, and it won't get the same hp on the US's lower octane fuel.
Anyways, I just wanted to type out the article for anyone interested.
