Volkswagen's marketing has been muddled for decades and it has only become
worse. In the mid 70s, VW sold inexpensive cars that competed against the
inexpensive Japanese imports but with a "European Flair". When the American
arm of VW figured out that Americans actually wanted a hot hatch (read: Mk1
GTi), they couldn't get enough of them for the market BUT the cars were plagued
with questionable electronics. This was followed by the Americanization of the
Mk1 which made the car larger and softer with even more dodgy electronics that
now appealed to more well-heeled customers - buyers who were less apt to
overlook the quirkiness of VWs and who no longer thought it was "cute" that
they had to ride the bus a few times a month when their VW was in the shop for
repairs.
The Mk3 was an extension of the Mk2 - even bigger, softer and with
significantly worse quality control than even the Westmoreland cars. These
were the cars that had a large number of VW enthusiasts shaking their heads and
wondering how long it would be before VW simply shuttered the North American
operation. The Mk4 became their salvation in the form of a modern car that did
things that the earlier cars couldn't - little things like "start reliably" or
roll down the windows and operate the wipers SEPARATELY without rusting to
pieces although they all had horrible coil pack problems.
These types of problems were forever blamed on the supplier - a supplier who
was under contract by VW. The irony is that either VW didn't care or was was
unable to force it's supplier to improve it's quality. As a result, while
Bosch was the manufacturer in question, it was VW who suffered the significant
blow to their already shaky reputation.
The Mk5, 6 and 7 were cutting edge cars when VW finally decided to produce cars
for the modern era instead of continuing to repackage their antiquated designs
in new, fancy looking shells. They still made some mis-steps such as the
Phaeton and the Routan, both that were well out of the VW product scope but
vehicles that VW felt were necessary to give them a more broad market appeal.
Fortunately both models have gone the way of the Gremlin although there are
rumors that the Phaeton may reappear because VW needs a high-dollar car in a
market that doesn't exist for them.
At this point in time, the bigger concern is whether or not VW can survive the
diesel debacle. There is quite a bit of finger pointing going on, both by the
public and by the various governmental agencies, all of whom want to have a
convenience scapegoat so they won't have to clean up any collateral damage.
From what I can tell of the debacle, the long-term effects of the excessive
emissions is still unknown - yes, the emissions are greater than allowed but
that needs to be quantified. Does this mean that birds are dropping out of the
sky from just one TDi passing within 1000 miles of said bird OR (and probably
more accurately) is one bird dropping out of the sky for ever TDI passing
within 10 miles of said flock of peckerheads, er birds.
What's most confusing is that VW is again trying to market to an every lowering
price point. The points that made VWs attractive - high quality materials,
luxury features and reasonable price are being surpassed by a need to maintain
a reasonable price. In other words, the high quality materials are now "nice"
materials and the luxury features are still available but now they're only in
"Package X".
This seems to be from VW's inability to determine what market they're targeting
- are they targeting first-time buyers who want a good cheap car? If so, they
need to dumb-down the cars to the Kia/Nissan market. Are they targeting
mid-level buyers who want a German Camry? If so, they're doing a great job BUT
the cars are too sophisticated and quirky - take out the neato stuff that us
techo-geeks like and give the buyers Beige. Are they targeting near-luxury
buyers who want an Audi? If so, well, stick the 4-Rings-of-Failure on the
hood, increase the price 20% and speak with a fake German accent.
VW is again directionless - let's hope they don't become like BMW who is trying
to be all things to all buyers (and failing on all counts).
Matthew
On Tuesday, March 15, 2016 12:23 PM, Holland Phillips
<[email protected]> wrote:
VW's marketing strategy has always puzzled me. When was the last time you saw
an advertisement of any kind for a Golf? I realize that the U.S. market has
always been fickle when it comes to hatchbacks of any manufacturer, but VW
could do a better job of marketing, since the Golf is in my opinion, the
overall best hatchback available in the U.S.. The Audi A3 hatch is a nice car,
but it's no longer available here, and was at a higher price point than the
Golf.
Here in San Diego, I've been seeing a lot of commercials for Passat and Jetta.
Their latest angle is promotion of the automatic safety features of their cars.
Not gonna sell me a car using that angle. I see all the latest automatic safety
devices and systems in new vehicles as a part of the dumbing down of America.
I'm of the opinion that we should be going the direction that countries like
Germany have employed for years, and require extensive driver training, and
having to pass comprehensive testing in order to get a drivers license. The
more autonomous that cars become, the less skill drivers will need to have.
When one of the safety devices fails or malfunctions, the driver will have no
basic car control skills to fall back on.
Scary thought. At least I feel safe, since I'm currently relegated to public
transportation. If some idiot loses control of his SUV, and clobbers the 10 ton
bus I'm riding, I'm pretty sure I won't be the one riding in the ambulance.
😉~HollandOn Mar 15, 2016 08:41, "Larry Velez" <[email protected]> wrote:
I think you are right that this might be isolated, but it might cause them to
pull out of the USA market – a market I think they have always struggled with
because of quality issues and the price premium of cars that they could not
overcome with the brand like BMW and Mercedes can. We’ll see how this pans out.
Personally I think this is a perfect opportunity for VW to go all in on
electric and dominate that potential new marker overnight. The Mk7 R does look
like a nice car. My wife’s Mk7 Autobahn grows on me every time I drive it.
-Larry91 GTI 16V From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Holland Phillips
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 11:33 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [mk2-16v] The future of VW It would seem that the problems VW is
currently experiencing is U.S. based. VWAG is a huge world wide conglomerate
consisting of Audi, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Siat, and a couple of more I can't
think of right now. VW sells a lot of cars under just the VW name in other
countries. While I was living in Mexico, it seemed like half the cars were
VW's, although most of them were models not sold in the U.S.. They may be
experiencing problems here in the U.S., but I'd be willing to bet that they
will blow over, and VW will still be around for the foreseeable future. If I
was able to purchase a new vehicle, I would be seriously considering a Mk7 Golf
R.~HollandOn Mar 15, 2016 07:23, "Larry Velez" <[email protected]> wrote:
Sadly we may be seeing the end of VW play out right now. They seem to be
continuing to hurt.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/03/u-s-volkswagen-dealers-are-poised-to-revolt/
This may have no impact on us Mk2 people since we were abandoned by VW long
ago, but where it might impact us is if VW Heritage/Classic Parts is shut down
in the aftermath of all this. Anyone out there not buying new VWs because of
all this? Just curious, Larry91 GTI 16V --
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