VW CEO Browning: Phaeton not in the cards any time soon

During a business background event on Sunday at its North American headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, Jonathan Browning, Volkswagen of America's CEO confirmed to Autoblog that the company's short-lived Phaeton sedan isn't likely to return to America any time soon.

Despite a flurry of reports to the contrary since the Phaeton left the U.S. market after the 2006 model year, Browning confirms that the luxury sedan is not part of the brand's ambitious plan to sell 800,000 units in North America by 2018. That said, while it's unlikely to return to North America in that time frame, VW is not completely ruling it out. According to Browning, the large luxury sedan segment is something that VW will eventually field an entry in once again ("It is not a case of if, but when") – but at the moment, it sounds like the return of the Phaeton is likely to be couple of generations away.