VW hopes to revive North American market

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VW’s struggles within the North American
market are rather obvious. Aging product line, quality issues, and marketing issues have all contributed to a steady
decline in sales. VW made it clear in its latest news letter that the next three to four years will bring ten new
models. This substantial new product onslaught is the key to VW’s success in North America, according to CEO Wolfgang
Bernhard. Bernhard was a major part of DaimlerChrysler and we expect great things from VW with his leadership. The
average 20 percent drop in sales from 2002 to 2004 (17 percent in the first half of 2005) is a pretty substantial fall
to try to recover from. Watching the history of VW in America, you can see this is pretty much run of the mill. The
have a decline and then realize they’re in decline, and then address the issues. The have an ascension and then they
start another decline. They are doing much better today than they were even 10 years ago. We look forward to seeing and
sampling every one of their new models.