At the 2002 Geneva Motor Show today,
By introducing its first-ever full-size luxury sedan, the 2003 Phaeton (pronounced fate-en), VW is taking on not only
Volkswagen maintains that it needs to add such a car to its stable to hold onto more of its core buyers. According to the German auto maker, those buyers--wooed by zippy cars like the Jetta and Golf--want to continue buying Volkswagens as they grow older but haven't, until now, had a car to which they can upgrade.
Volkswagen currently has the youngest buyers in the industry, says Rex Parker, a vice president and senior consultant with Auto Pacific, an automotive research group in Long Beach, Calif. However, Volkswagen's own research indicates that only 5% of current owners trade up to VW's luxury division, Audi--hence the reason for the Phaeton and other future luxury Volkswagens. (In the U.S., unlike Europe, it is not widely known that Audi is owned by VW.)
Interestingly, Volkswagen also knows that the 420-horsepower Phaeton, predicted to sell for at least $45,000 when it goes on sale early next year, won't be a big hit. Volume is limited to 37,500 worldwide (less than half of those cars for the U.S.). VW's incoming chairman,
That could be because current VW owners in the U.S. are still too young to afford a high-end Volkswagen. According to Auto Pacific's Parker, many current Jetta and Golf drivers (Jetta is VW's biggest seller, outperforming Passat by 50% last year and also drawing a significantly younger customer) are even younger than the people signing the papers--the real owners are the parents of the drivers.
Parker also says that Phaeton will be measured by what it does for the brand, more than how it sells. "If the presence of the Phaeton helps people think of VW in terms of luxury and they gain about 5% more buyers ordering leather and more options in Passats and Jettas, the program costs for Phaeton will be covered," Parker says.
Meanwhile, what about the car itself? One of the core goals of this Volkswagen was to not only boost the luxury image of the brand, but to make the car a test bed for top-flight technology. That means not only delivering wonders like the "W-12" (a W-shaped 12-cylinder engine rather than the traditional V shape of the cylinder banks), but options such as all-wheel drive (currently only Audi has full-size sedans with power to each wheel) and a new environment-control system called 4-zone Climatronic (all four outboard passengers can control heating and cooling individually) designed to never allow interior windows to fog.
To achieve this, VW engineers created a system that constantly samples the dew point in the car and eliminates excess moisture rather than merely blowing hot air onto fogged windows. Also, vents in the car are mostly hidden and can close and open automatically, yielding better temperature control.
Other luxe features include 12-way adjustable front and rear seats (on some luxury models), plus massage and memory functions, and of course there will be satellite navigation systems, television, parking assist and a custom-order program that lets buyers further personalize their Phaetons.
One thing that must be mentioned is that in the grand scheme of Volkswagen AG, the VW brand is considered more traditional, while Audi becomes more sporting. In that sense then, the Phaeton will feature top-flight luxury-car driving controls, such as traction, brake and crash systems, and an exceedingly stiff body and road-adaptive suspension that can handle very high-speed driving (particularly salient to the European buyer)--but the ride will be engaging rather than sports-sedan "electric."
All that may add up to a car that enough American buyers may well covet--if they can learn to pronounce the name. (A phaeton, by the way, is a term for a light four-wheel carriage.) The gamble is whether or not enough buyers will be willing to pay big money for a VW, which has traditionally been considered an "affordable" car, without also undermining its Audi division. Time will tell, of course, but the fact that Volkswagen dealers hate the name--and have said so publicly--doesn't bode well for initial success.