Reuters had access to a message published on Volkswagen's intranet site in which brand chief Thomas Schaefer admitted partial and early retirements are planned.
I said “VW has lost its way” a few weeks ago and that got some people angry here.
I understand the focus on SUVs, but:
They cheapened the US version of the Jetta and also made it very ugly.
They replaced the B6 Passat with a low coast barge for the US and Chinese markets, and now they have pulled it out of the US market.
All their direct injection engines are prone to carbon buildup (not sure if it is worse than with other manufacturers though).
The Arteon, basically a slightly stretched CC with a bigger turbo and slightly nicer interior starts at around $49k for the AWD version. And they slapped ultra low profile 20" tires on them that are getting shredded on a regular basis when hitting potholes. For that price I can get an A5 Sportsback that is put together much nicer, yo fool. The extra 4" of legroom in the back doesn’t justify all the corners VW cuts with the MQB platform versus Audi’s MLB Evo platform.
All their SUVs look like boxes. So does the Golf, but it had some character.
Their electric offerings are meh.
I say all this as someone who has owned VW’s for the last 22 years. Maybe saying it has lost its way is unfair, but in the US it used to be the brand for people who were moderate enthusiasts and/or who wanted a little more handling from their cars than what the CamCords offered. The customer base seems very different now. it’s all about boxy SUVs.
I said “VW has lost its way” a few weeks ago and that got some people angry here.
I understand the focus on SUVs, but:
They cheapened the US version of the Jetta and also made it very ugly.
They replaced the B6 Passat with a low coast barge for the US and Chinese markets, and now they have pulled it out of the US market.
All their direct injection engines are prone to carbon buildup (not sure if it is worse than with other manufacturers though).
The Arteon, basically a slightly stretched CC with a bigger turbo and slightly nicer interior starts at around $49k for the AWD version. And they slapped ultra low profile 20" tires on them that are getting shredded on a regular basis when hitting potholes. For that price I can get an A5 Sportsback that is put together much nicer, yo fool. The extra 4" of legroom in the back doesn’t justify all the corners VW cuts with the MQB platform versus Audi’s MLB Evo platform.
All their SUVs look like boxes. So does the Golf, but it had some character.
Their electric offerings are meh.
I say all this as someone who has owned VW’s for the last 22 years. Maybe saying it has lost its way is unfair, but in the US it used to be the brand for people who were moderate enthusiasts and/or who wanted a little more handling from their cars than what the CamCords offered. The customer base seems very different now. it’s all about boxy SUVs.