Volkswagen's 5-year plan includes new roadster, four-door coupe
Volkswagen chairman Wolfgang Bernhard's plans for 20 new vehicles over the next five years includes both a roadster
and a coupe-style four-door sedan, according to Automotive News Europe.The roadster will be based on the Concept R mid-engine car (at right), which debuted at the Frankfurt auto show in 2003. An earlier production version was killed in 2005 after it came-in near the Porsche Boxster's price point. The second version will aim for a lower MSRP, and will likely debut around 2009.
The long-rumored 4-door will be positioned between the Passat and the Phaeton, and above the two-door Scirocco, which will launch in 2008.
[Sources: Automotive News Europe and Volkswagen]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gunnar Heinrich 2:15PM (3/21/2006)
A new VW roadster? Sounds cool. A new VW sedan positioned between the Passat and the Phaeton? Has VW not learned its Phaeton lesson yet?? Do they really want to lose more money on an upmarket venture that will cross paths with subsidiary Audi?
http://www.automobilesdeluxe.blogspot.com
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That One Person 2:41PM (3/21/2006)
Great, more expensive VW's. Good job, Volkswagen.
Digging the hole even deeper!
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John B 2:47PM (3/21/2006)
Just a suggestion, but shouldn't VW learn how to build their existing product line before expanding into new vehicle designs?
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Ville 2:51PM (3/21/2006)
The problem is, VW has to move upmarket because it's so expensive to build cars in Germany. In Europe this has worked better than in the US.
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VW-Guy 2:53PM (3/21/2006)
Get an attitude check guys - the article CLEARLY CLEARLY CLEARLY states Automotive News Europe as the source. Over there, cars are much more money, and the Phaeton is doing A-OK on it's own.
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zverg 3:23PM (3/21/2006)
#3 (ville) - Most of their cars haven't been made in Germany for YEARS. At least not the ones they sell in the states.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks that it is stupid to position a car between the phaeton and passat. Can't the new passat easily get to 40k? I know the old one could be in the 40k+ price range. Waste of money I say. They aren't terrible cars or anything, but if I wanted to spend that kind of money I would buy an Infiniti, not a "people's car".
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Ted K 3:30PM (3/21/2006)
This just in - Volkswagon reports that they will build cars of reasonable quality.
Doesn't mean it is going to happen.
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Dude 3:44PM (3/21/2006)
Zverg, Seriously. An Infiniti is not a Maybach. It's a peoples' car too.
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Michael Karesh 3:46PM (3/21/2006)
"Between the Passat and the Phaeton"??? That's not saying much. Is there a larger price gap in any other line-up?
Let's imagine someone quoted the addition on your house at "between a Passat and a Phaeton." You'd probably want them to be a little more specific.
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Dude 4:00PM (3/21/2006)
Michael Karesh -- "That's not saying much. Is there a larger price gap in any other line-up?"
Actually the Touareg fits between the Passat and the Phaeton, but for the non-SUVs it's quite a gap (about 40 grand), but not all that unusual.
Other manufacturers have large gaps. Take Ford for example. What's the next highest priced car after the GT? A loaded Excursion? It's still somewhere near a $100K gap.
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G. Snyder 4:32PM (3/21/2006)
"Other manufacturers have large gaps. Take Ford for example. What's the next highest priced car after the GT? A loaded Excursion? It's still somewhere near a $100K gap"
That analogy does not work. The GT is a low production, partly hand built 'halo' car. The Phaeton is at least built on a larger scale and could be considered a full production car. Furthermore, the Passat and Phaeton are the same type of cars (4/5 passenger sedans). I think it is a good point that was made. In between a Passat and Phaeton could be $45, 50, 60, 70, 80 thousand?
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kag 4:43PM (3/21/2006)
G. Snyder-
I'd say the Phaeton is also a partly hand built 'halo' car. I think it's a valid point also.
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Richard Warren 5:33PM (3/21/2006)
Funny, we aassume it's for here. VW is a worldwide player, while the Phaeton failed here, it's done pretty good in other countries.
Just because VW means "Peoples Car" it does not mean that all they need to make is low end transportation, and if you follow the marketplace except in devloping countries, low end transportation is not a money maker for a comapny and not really desired by many buyers.
All makes have gone both up or down market in an effort to gain as many sales as possible, and that's just fine, unless of course you're VW.
VW? Peoples Car? Get over it.
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Joshi 5:35PM (3/21/2006)
I think the new "4-door coupe" will be closer to the Passat in price. Motor Trend actually reported that it would be a Passat. So who knows. I'm guessing it'll be a slightly sportier, slightly more expensive car base on the Passat.
I think this news is great. I'm really excited for the New Scirocco. A VW version of the "Shooting Brake" TT? Sign me up. The roadster is interesting two, even though I think VW's convertible line might be getting crowded, with the New Beetle Convertible and the Eos, too. Would the roadster be called the "New Karmann Ghia"? :D
In all honesty, if VW could get the roadster to compete with the Miata and Solstice (or more likely, the Sky), I think it would be a great success.
But where's the New Microbus? Or the next New Beetle, for that matter...
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Tom Design 7:52PM (3/21/2006)
Yeah! Now that's a nose job we've all been praying for. What was Audi/VW thinking with this big gaping hole, narrow pinched grille on the current generation of cars? They cheapened their look with a piggy snout, then filled it with black plastic, like a 90's boom box speaker grille. This concept design is beautiful, a stretched smile, with an appropriate, chromed bumper statement where a solid, metal bumper should be seen, nicely done. This is a future look is beautiful. The rhinoplasty can't happen soon enough for this designer. I cringe everytime i see the current Golf, A4, A6 and Passat with the piggy gash style.
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Dude 9:21PM (3/21/2006)
G. Snyder, I didn't say it wasn't a good point, but why doesn't the analogy work? The Phaeton is as hand built as anything you'll find short of a Bugatti. It is definitely a "halo" car. They build it in a factory with hardwood floors...
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1837641
http://www.automotive.com/2004/43/volkswagen/phaeton/reviews/walkaround/index.html
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tcc3 4:58AM (3/22/2006)
Joshi, I've been hoping for a Karmann Ghia remake for years. The roadster would be perfect for that. It can be the peppy little compact sportscar that the Ghia looked like, but could never be, given its beetle heritage.
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Car-la 6:41AM (3/22/2006)
"Most of their cars haven't been made in Germany for YEARS. At least not the ones they sell in the states."
No not the ones in the US, but you might remember that VW is the largest car manufacturer in Europe...so where do you think do the remaining 2-3 mio cars come from that VW does not sell in the US? You guessed it: Germany. At least a lot of them come from Germany. VW has never produced cars only for the American market, because their sales are simply to low for them to develop cars for the US alone.
In general, I have to agree with the remarks here, though. It doesn't really make sense for VW to compete with Audi, but then Audi does not have a 4-door coupe, and from the information I read so far, the car will be priced way below the Phaeton and very close to the Passat. Given the success of the MB CLS, this might be a market-segment worth exploring.
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vw automobiles 10:17AM (10/06/2006)
An roadster from VW is more than welcome
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