Re: Do we really want it? (drgoochmobile)
The english translation of "Volkswagen" is in fact "People's Car"
The Original Beetle consisted of obvious qualities which appealed to the consumers and in turn it made the company successful. Durable, Reliable, Simple, and Affordable.
I am guessing that you are new to the VW family and therefore you may not have a good understanding of what makes the essence of Volkswagen.
The 4th (current) and up coming 5th generation Golf and Jetta have gone upmarket and have lost contact with the air cooled and early water cooled cars that made VW stand out in the crowd. The Polo, just slightly smaller than the Honda Civic in size (high quality, moderate cost)is an excellent addition to the VW lineup here in North America because it will fulfill two important missions.
First, it will attract new and first time buyers to the VW brand, and hopefully keep them buying VW in the future (otherwise lost customers to Honda and Toyota, ect..) Secondly, it will satisfy VW enthusiasts who want to see a High Quality Small Car, which has been absent from the line up since the Rabbit GTI. Lower priced does not mean the lowest price, just a fair price for higher quality than what usually reigns in this size segment Hundai Excel, Toyota Corolla and Echo, Honda Civic, Kia, amd the like. The fact is there IS a growing market for higher quality small cars, like the Mini.
The fact is that VW has a better reputation in other countries UK, Japan, and the like where it sells the Polo and the Lupo, which is about the same size as the old Rabbit, yet the car is excelllent quality at an affordable price, and the GTI version competes with the Mini, and beats it in price by a significant margin in most markets.
VW in North America IS a mass market seller, for example the Jetta is the best selling German name plate in the US. Volkswagen wants to increase Its market share in the USA and Canada, that has been stated as a goal by VW.
I believe that it is ok for VW to market luxury automobiles, however, how many times have you seen a company lose sight of the original qualities that made it successful and then go on to fail in the long run.
I am certain that VW must not lose sight of their roots or they may go the way of other organizations who commited the same mistake.
I hope that gives you some insight.
Bill
[Modified by golf strom, 2:09 PM 8-8-2002]