VW GTI vs. New Scirocco ?

[Sayemthree]

VW does not want to import the GTI to the USA because it may and will steal sales from the GTI. so what shoudl they do?

give us the

Scirroco 2.0T in place of the 2 door GTI
keep the 4 door GTI
keep the 4 door Jett GLi etc.

that wa they will make everyone happy. 2 door, single sporty buyers get the rocco. family guys get the 4 door GTI and Jetta. and we all be happy?

better than NO Scirroco imported to the USA at all , right?

 

[Brewski]

Actually they said recently that the poor u.s. dollar was there main reason for not importing it.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/weak-us-dollar-the-only-reason-scirocco-not-coming-here.html

 

[bz_2.0T]

So far the offical reason for not selling them here is because of the weak U.S dollar and they have stated that it would not interfere with GTI and R32 sales and it fits in nicely

official story:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aYg9QFVuMfew

 

[WakeHead]

Regardless of the GTI/R32. There are lots of reasons it won't come here. With the dollar, it would cost at least $30k. The FWD coupe segment is pretty crowded. Accord, Altima, Eclipse. I think VWoA remembers the Corrado and its poor sales. They might have done it but right now they need to concentrate on their mainstream cars. Jetta/Passat.

 

[TarmacSpecial]

Kinda copied and pasted from a thread in OT, and added a bit more....

Why should it come to the U.S? Most Americans can't even pronounce or spell Scirocco anyways.

I owned a Scirocco, a very nice one...

http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publish/article_1161.shtml

I don't hate the way the new car looks, but the car looks nothing like the old one, not even a resemblance or a throwback cue. The nameplate has been dead here for 20 years and 16 in Europe. It was never a particularly popular car either, especially in the U.S.. Just doesn't make sense.

They want to make another GTI with less head room, fine, but why not just name it something else? I just don't see "Scirocco" when I look at it. Like I see "GTI" when I look at any GTI, or "Corvette" when I look at any Corvette. Pointless to bring it back, and I guarantee the name plate won't last nearly as long as it did the first go around.

"Corrado" would certainly make more sense, since it was in effect the MkIII Scirocco, and the whole point of renaming it was for VW to disassociate themselves with the Scirocco name for marketing purposes. Corrado is a hell of a lot easier to spell and say too.

To me it's cleary a pet project of someone in VW that is dead set on bringing back a model that kinda was always superfluous in VW's lineup.

 

[BlaineWasHere]

Honestly... I don't blame them or think North America is ready for it.

Hatches are gaining in popularity but are still the ugly stepchild here in America. Enough eyes have not been opened to them yet, so I guess just be happy we have the GTI...

 

[Silver-Bolt]

I like the body style. Hoping the bring it with an AWD option.

 

[Khobin~]

...they have stated that it would not interfere with GTI and R32 sales and it fits in nicely

Really??...

Volkswagen is prepping a new compact sporty coupe that should be a strong showroom draw for VW dealers everywhere. Yet the company's U.S. branch won't be selling the 2009 Volkswagen Scirocco. Why? Because VW already has a sporty Rabbit-based hatchback, the GTI, and U.S. execs fear the Scirocco would steal GTI sales, which are not huge anyway. "We don't want it," as Volkswagen of America chief Adrian Hallmark told AutoWeek magazine. "The GTI is iconic--it's as strong a name as the Beetle. It is economically suicidal for us to risk the sales volume and the potential for the GTI." Maybe so, but the new Scirocco would be so different that it might easily generate "plus business" instead.

from: http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/2009-volkswagen-scirocco.htm
...And other sites too. :wink:

Perhaps it's just related to the fact that Europe gets a lot of sweet cars we don't...

 

[brennok]

Yes really. The link you posted is old and before the car was unveiled. The link from bloomberg in the third post is from March 4th.

"Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, said it won't bring its resurrected Scirocco sports hatchback to market in the U.S. because of the dollar's decline versus the euro.

``The exchange rate is the only reason for not selling it in the U.S.,'' Detlef Wittig, the German company's sales and marketing chief, said last night in an interview at the Geneva International Motor Show. ``This car would fit the U.S. market but at the current exchange rate we wouldn't make any money.''

 

[Khobin~]

Yes really. The link you posted is old and before the car was unveiled. The link from bloomberg in the third post is from March 4th.

"Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, said it won't bring its resurrected Scirocco sports hatchback to market in the U.S. because of the dollar's decline versus the euro.

``The exchange rate is the only reason for not selling it in the U.S.,'' Detlef Wittig, the German company's sales and marketing chief, said last night in an interview at the Geneva International Motor Show. ``This car would fit the U.S. market but at the current exchange rate we wouldn't make any money.''

Yeah I just read through the article. Sure the link I posted is old, but that was their excuse before, and that was from VW America, not VW AG... so perhaps it's still an "undecided" debate as to whether or not to bring it over...

But hey, if it's the US dollar that's stopping it in the US, what about Canada?:biggrin:

 

[brennok]

Yeah I just read through the article. Sure the link I posted is old, but that was their excuse before, and that was from VW America, not VW AG... so perhaps it's still an "undecided" debate as to whether or not to bring it over...

But hey, if it's the US dollar that's stopping it in the US, what about Canada?:biggrin:

Yeah that was the logic behind VWOA, but I think I remember reading somewhere that it wasn't up to VWOA in the end.

I don't know if they have plans to bring it to Canada. I haven't heard either way unless I missed it somewhere. They may be able to especially since Canada has different restrictions as far as I know which may make it cheaper to port over allowing them to make more on the vehicle. At the same time with no US sale you won't hear Canadiens bitching about the price as much since they won't have the US to compare it to. .

 

[WakeHead]

I like the body style. Hoping the bring it with an AWD option.

AWD will not be offered on this car anywhere.

 

[bz_2.0T]

If the U.S doesnt get it the chances of Canada getting it is very slim since the market is very small here and it probably wouldn't be worth spending those marketing valuable dollars just for Canada.

Its the VW AG that gets final say not VWOA as mentioned above

 

[SloppySRT]

Oh man... I just read through the entire auto-biography on that Scirocco

 

[Khobin~]

If the U.S doesnt get it the chances of Canada getting it is very slim since the market is very small here and it probably wouldn't be worth spending those marketing valuable dollars just for Canada.

Its the VW AG that gets final say not VWOA as mentioned above

Yeah I know...but I can dream... :biggrin:

And hey, they'd get extra sales from those in the US that want it bad enough to import from Canada :lol:

I still think the solution to their name plate crisis is simple...just call it the MK VI GTI in NA, and BAM, no more "we can't sacrifice the GTI name..." :fighting0030:

And if it's a problem of losing $$ due to the low US dollar, raise prices in the States to reflect the global market :biggrin: :yikes: ...That would also help stop the "Canadian crying" about prices here vs in the US :wink: