Say it aint so: VW may be bringing Tiguan, Scirocco back to the drawing board
A new boss walks through the turnstyle and he thinks he knows everything. Word out of Germany is that new VW chairman Martin Winterkorn is disappointed in the direction of future VWs and has sent some of the work back to the proverbial drawing board. The Tiguan, which would have helped the VW brand immensely in the US, may need more time with designers to get the formula right. The Scirocco, with its love it / hate it looks, may be pushed further into the future too. The Golf and Passat Coupe could also be pushed back due to cost considerations and styling issues. The Golf takes an amazing 44 production hours to complete, which is almost twice as long as it takes to make a Nissan.
While it's always disappointing to hear about product delays or cancellations, it's better to get it right than to get it fast. Here's hoping Mr. Winterkorn knows what's best and he's not just putting his personal stamp stamp on VW.
[Source: Winding Road]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Adam 9:39AM (2/14/2007)
I think that is a great idea.
Those cars/CUVs/SUVs/whatever had a style that fit in well with VW's new image.
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NoNameDenton 9:42AM (2/14/2007)
This is a mistake for VW, these cheaper products could have boosted the sales in the United States, the Tiguan at least, the Scirocco could have become the basis for a new design of the Golf/Rabbit, and build a new Scirocco
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Alex Nunez 9:52AM (2/14/2007)
I'm a little disappointed that the Tiguan could get delayed. I thought it was pretty good-looking in its current mini-Touareg form. The Scirocco is the more understandable of the two.
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mike 10:42AM (2/14/2007)
I hope they totally redesign the style of the Jetta and the Passat and burn everything related to the Pheaton. Not interested in Japanese styling - especially Toyota.
Back to the drawing board is exactly what VW needs after Piesch f...ed the whole thing up!
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Paul 10:48AM (2/14/2007)
They should be more concerned with fixing VW's crappy reliability, but then maybe they are. All I know is they have a long way to go to get as good as GM and Honda.
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mike 10:51AM (2/14/2007)
Paul, I think you must have made a little typo. I think you meant Toyota instead of GM. Now that was a good one!!
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Jim 10:55AM (2/14/2007)
If the Scirocco was supposed to look like the rather ugly IROC concept it's probably not a bad idea to delay it until they can make it decent looking. I know BMW has been having a lot of success selling ugly cars, but not every automaker does.
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michaewh 4:02PM (2/14/2007)
The tiguan looks great. I hade my name on a waiting list already. It was poised to be first to market in the US with small utility diesel. The delay will probably lead to my going elsewhere, especially if Honda puts a diesel in the CRV or Element.
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felonious monk 1:31PM (2/14/2007)
Just another case of a new-to-the-pack corporate dog pissing on things to make them his.
There is nothing wrong with the Tiguan except for it's name. This thing better come back at least 10x better or they would've wasted time and money just to suit one man's ego.
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Jason 4:42PM (2/14/2007)
This will prove to be a huge mistake for VW. Sales are currently falling and it's much because there is little new and fresh products appearing. Not bringing these two out now leaves VW with nothing new or exciting (The EOS is a niche car and is not going to carry the company). I can understand Winterkorn's concerns to make everything that comes out a hit, but right now, beggars can't be chosers. We will continue to see VW sales fall with no new products. Same thing happened in the mid-90's, and obviously no one is looking to the past to see the pattern.
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felonious monk 6:23PM (2/14/2007)
Not only is the Eos a niche car, it strayed too far from the concept and became much too feminine looking. Again, VW has managed to pour cold water on potential buyers just as they got all hot and bothered.
Any styling issues or personal hang-ups this new CEO has could easily have been shelved for later as a model refresh. This is nothing more than a power-trip to signal his arrival.
Pure Foolishness.
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Bruce 10:11PM (2/14/2007)
The Tiguan in the photo above looks fine. But I've seen other pics purporting to be it and it was wimpy looking. So if that was the case, it does need to go back for more work.
Nothing worse than not having product to sell, than having bad products you can't sell.
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Bill 9:24PM (2/14/2007)
What else do you expect from VW?
They screw up everything from new car intros to reliability.
Who needs them anyhow?
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x23 2:58AM (2/15/2007)
i saw a Tiguan driving around earlier today. in real life it looks a bit too Matrix/Vibe-ish i thought. just with a VW face on it. i wasn't all that impressed really. it did look a bit different than those concept pictures however.
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michaewh 8:49PM (3/20/2007)
Register for more info here:
http://www.volkswagen.com/vwcms_publish/vwcms/master_public/virtualmaster/en2/centralhosting/carlines/tiguan/base/en_COM.html?culture=en_US&pagemode=reloadCountry
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