Rumor mill: VW shopping Lamborghini and Bugatti? Phasing out or replacing the Phaeton?
Here's what we call a newsbrief - In the a short Dow Jones Newswire piece, Volkswagen denies a report in German newspaper the Leipziger Volkszeitung that it is shopping Lamborghini and Bugatti, and that it is discontinuing the brand's top-rung Phaeton luxury sedan.
This is the first we've heard of the rumors, and while Volkswagen has been conducting some aggressive restructuring over the past several months, it would appear that both of the supercar marques' model portfolios (present and near-future) are tied too closely to the mother ship to make such sell-offs viable. Word of the Phaeton's demise also comes within hours of a Freien Presse report indicating that VW has designs on replacing the luxury sedan in 2009.
[Sources: Dow Jones Newswire via Morningstar.com; AFX News Limited via Forbes; Volkswagen]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tyre 7:53AM (6/12/2006)
The Phaeton has been on the chopping block for over a year.
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Androo 9:29AM (6/12/2006)
SHOPPING Lamborghini and Bugatti? What does that mean exactly? The use of language on this site is getting worse. First it's 'dropped', now 'shopping'. I've really no idea what that actually means.
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Nick 10:09AM (6/12/2006)
In the best of all possible worlds Toyota buys Lamborghini. They have so much money they can just buy a sports car company and they need one. Not to mention I think it would be a great fit. Lamborghini already has a design language and Toyota is great at making cars. I think it would make for a better Lamboghini and a better Toyota. If Lamborghini is having troubles its not because of Lamborghini, its because of Volkswagen.
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jamie 10:48AM (6/12/2006)
What is VW doing with the Phaeton in the first place?
VOLKSWAGEN should be reserved for VW's mass production vehicles.
AUDI should fill VW's luxury segment. Duh.
PORSCHE should cover the sport cars field.
LAMBORGHINI and/or BUGATTI should excel in the exotic sport luxury stratosphere.
BENTLEY should provide only ultimate luxury transportation for the totally refined individuals like myself.
Now, what's so hard about that?
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Dr. Woo 10:54AM (6/12/2006)
Nick,
Lamborghini is not having troubles by any stretch of the word. The Gallardo is selling like hotcakes and they've never been more successful.
I was hesitant about the company going to the Germans and away from the Italians in the first place, but to Toyota? No. That is all.
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bob h. 10:58AM (6/12/2006)
Nice try Jamie...only Porsche is not owned by VW.
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Whiplash 10:58AM (6/12/2006)
#4 I agree. I hate this watering down of brands that everyone's taking part in. I saw Porche's SUV yesterday and was completely confused. I thought Porche made sports cars???
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tim 10:59AM (6/12/2006)
I agree wholeheartedly with Androo. I had to read and re-read the item several times until I could decypher the headline. When I shop it is to buy, not sell. Wouldn't "VW to sell..." have been more easily understood?
On the substantive matter if VW are to dispose of either Bugatti or Lamborghini I'd flog off Lambo tomorrow. It'd get a better price and it's still at heart a soulless concern producing flash-harry show-off cars for medallion-wearing egotists. Bugatti is a history-rich and emotive marque which has produced some of the most beautiful cars ever made. 35B anyone?Furthermore VW have only just poured approx $600 trillion into Bugatti and it would be rather a shame to lose all that potential for more automotive grand lunacy such as the glorious white elephant which is the Veyron, an item which gladdens me in the same way as Concorde or an SR-71 used to.
I don't expect you all to agree with me and shan't be insulted if you disagree.
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tim 11:11AM (6/12/2006)
Yeah Jamie. What have Porsche got to do with it?
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tim 11:12AM (6/12/2006)
Yeah Jamie. What have Porsche got to do with it?
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Andy Keck 11:29AM (6/12/2006)
>Nice try Jamie...only Porsche is not owned by VW.
...although Porsche owns a good-sized chunk of VW now.
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gbh 12:17PM (6/12/2006)
As Andy just mentioned, Porsche owns a good chunk of VW.
Chrysler was inches from re-aquiring Lambo when Piech's VW swooped in and overpaid for the company. Lambo was owned by the Suharto cronies at the time.
It wouldn't surprise me if DCX ended up with it again. Just not sure how it would fit.
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ghughes 12:30PM (6/12/2006)
I would love to see Gm own both(vette mechanicals/price, lambo stylists) and buy or purchase a large stake in DCXs Smart - but we probably dont have enough money now to ever consider such a thing-
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GOKARTN 12:43PM (6/12/2006)
If Lambo has to be sold, I think BMW would be the best fit.
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Nick 1:46PM (6/12/2006)
My bad on that Toyota comment. I like Toyota, but they aren't that great at performance because its not their focus. For this reason BMW would be a much better choice than Toyota. They make some of the best engines in the world. Toyota makes good cars for consumers, but I would like to think that Lamborghini would be more for the enthusiast.
Jaime is right. Every brand that VW holds has its own distinct character (unlike GM's brands), but I think that a BMW built Lambo is better than an Audi built Lambo.
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New Phaeton owner 2:04PM (6/12/2006)
There's nothing wrong with using the word 'shopping' in that context, though it isn't as common. I think he means 'shopping it around,' or showing it off to prospective buyers. If it's a 'reach', it's a pretty self-explanatory one regardless.
As far as the Phaeton goes, I'm glad it as failed in the U.S. marketplace (and been a slow-seller in other nations), as it allowed me to pick up one at a ridiculous discount... to the point where I don't even care that much about the residual. Great ride, good power, and sleeper styling, plus lots of toys. The dealer rep, however, was a real pain, but I hope to not see her very much!
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tim 2:17PM (6/12/2006)
Anyone ever seen a W12 Phaeton on the road? And I don't mean at a VW sponsored event or anything, just a car on the road that someone either paid their own money for or chose above all other options on their company-car list. I've seen one. Ever. This is in the UK, some 4000 miles closer to Wolfsburg than most of you.
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Howard Kerr 2:27PM (6/12/2006)
"Shopping around", I believe this means that VW is testing the market for it's supercar brands. IF they were up for sale, and/or already had a buyer...then, it would read VW is selling Lambo And Bugatti to X company.
Yes, this is somewhat confusing, but look at it another way, you go to a grocery STORE. Do they just STORE food there? or can you also BUY food there? (A STORage place isn't somewhere you go to buy anything.)
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Nick 3:22PM (6/12/2006)
Yes, but what is the comments section of a blog without wild speculation.
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sanjay 4:12PM (6/12/2006)
I've also seen just one W12 Phaeton in the UK, but quite a few lesser-engined models. Before the launch of the car VW said it was never going to be a volume car, the reasoning behind it was that it would give extra "polish" to people buying the more expensive variants of Golf, for example, in the showrooms. The logic beeing that you were no longer buying the most expensive model in the entire comapanies range and that the if the brand could handle higher value models then £30k for a Golf didn't seem that outlandish. It still must have disapointed them how badly its sold, especially after spending so much on the much hyped prodction line at Dresden.
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