• Volkswagen confirms second generation Phaeton is coming, mistake? Set to share Panamera and Bentley platforms

                    
      		   
      Published on 10-29-2012 10:53 AM
      3 Comments Comments
      The first generation Volkswagen Phaeton was a failure. The idea of a high end Volkswagen luxury sedan is good on paper in the sense of increasing brand awareness and perception. But why buy a VW priced like an Audi A8 when you can just buy the Audi A8? And herein lies the problem with the Phaeton for Volkswagen. Will things change with the Phaeton sharing Porsche Panamera and Bentley platforms?

      The VW Group already announced next generation Bentleys will get Panamera underpinnings. This won't make for a very cheap sedan however. Especially with that platform possibly being used by Lamborghini as well. Clearly VW wants to get their moneys worth but this may not be a good idea.

      VW expected to sell 20,000 Phaetons annually with the first gen model. In four years, only 25,000 were built and slightly over 2,000 were sold in the United States leading to large depreciation. VW may want to evaluate if it is worth doing this again. They have the premium brands for premium priced cars. The fact of the matter is, nobody wants a premium priced Volkswagen seemingly other than the Germans. We will see what happens but this is likely history repeating itself.


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      This article was originally published in forum thread: Volkswagen confirms second generation Phaeton is coming, mistake? Set to share Panamera and Bentley platforms started by Sticky View original post
      Comments 3 Comments
      1. andrew20195's Avatar
        andrew20195 - 10-29-2012, 03:29 PM
        I remember Piech at a press event before the VW Phaeton and BMW 1-series launched. He said that moving a brand like VW upmarket is much easier than moving downmarket like BMW. I think we see who succeeded in that challenge and who failed (BMW's M brand dilution nonwithstanding). At the time, I thought Piech had lost touch with reality, and he hasn't done anything to convince me otherwise since then.
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 10-29-2012, 05:33 PM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by andrew20195 Click here to enlarge
        I remember Piech at a press event before the VW Phaeton and BMW 1-series launched. He said that moving a brand like VW upmarket is much easier than moving downmarket like BMW. I think we see who succeeded in that challenge and who failed (BMW's M brand dilution nonwithstanding). At the time, I thought Piech had lost touch with reality, and he hasn't done anything to convince me otherwise since then.
        Moving upmarket is easier? He said that?
      1. Remonster's Avatar
        Remonster - 10-29-2012, 06:41 PM
        Sounds like something an insane person would say, of course it's easier to move downmarket. BMW was already established as a premium, sought-after brand so it was obvious that the 1 series would sell like crazy when you suddenly make this brand available to a whole new group of buyers who couldn't afford to buy a BMW. I fit right into this camp, I bought my 135i specifically because it was $12,000 less than a 335i (when specced the way I wanted them) and the 3 was too expensive for me at the time.

        As for the second gen Phaeton, I hope they price it a little lower but I truly have high hopes for this car. I don't care if the first one sold poorly, it was a great car.