Volkswagen is hoping to revive its fortunes in the crucial American car market by launching models designed and engineered expressly for the US.First will be a small saloon which was the brainchild of ex-CEO Wolfgang Bernhard, and is known internally as the 'NCS' - new compact sedan. A high-level source told Autocar that it will be Jetta-sized but a lot cheaper to build, and will be equipped to appeal in the US. That means it will have a much less sophisticated torsion beam rear axle set-up than the mkV Golf and Jetta, but have a high equipment count.Our source also revealed that 'NCS' would be a global platform, being sold in the developing world, and even Europe. However, he revealed that it didn't mean that the Golf was going to switch to a lower tech platform. Golf mk VI is likely to share a base with the next Passat, indicating that it will continue being a sophisticated car and very competitive dynamically.Insiders have also admitted that VW is looking at a new SUV for America to sit between the Touareg and Tiguan. "Our US dealers think that the Tiguan is too small," he said; "we're looking at a middle model, possibly based on the Passat."
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Re: VW's plan to conquer the wild frontier
to make it big in the states vw has to follow this policy:
Save huge money by using the previous model for any given car sold.
make all the badges on the car 50% bigger.
Adapt it to give it the biggest track possible and slobby soft suspension.
everything is an auto.
fit it with the biggest petrol and diesel engines. The US are about to discover diesel?
fit 'taxi' level trim and fit it with cheap copies of your normal equipment.
Fit cheap tyres.
Price everything a half its UK equivalent price.
Re: VW's plan to conquer the wild frontier
Volkswagen are a budget car maker than forgot theyre a budget car maker. The prices of their cars have rose steadily over the last 20 years. They should go back to their roots a bit more. I suppose owning skoda could be their answer to that, but even skoda arnt exactly rock bottom any more.
Re: VW's plan to conquer the wild frontier
Volkswagen needs to do whatever it needs to do to stay in the USA Market. Let's only hope that the suspension system they have to have to compete can have its performance enhanced as VW learns along the way.
I was a Volkswagen Salesman for many years. Volkswagens were such a pleasure to show to those who had only driven American Cars. They really are a different breed, fun to drive. Volkswagen has simply got to figure out a way to keep the "Fun" in their drive.
Will Decker, Norman, Oklahoma USA