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Can VW Overtake Toyota and GM To Become #1?

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Comments

  • fho2008fho2008 Member Posts: 393
    You said all diesels are turbos......now you want to add if its a Mexican diesel or if a bird pooped on it etc....you said all diesels are turbos and you are wrong.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,704
    Please read the discussion before providing us with your wisdom. We were comparing current diesels to current gas engines. No discussion of 30 year old diesels.
  • fho2008fho2008 Member Posts: 393
    I have been following the discussion......please don't give us any of your wisdom by stating that all diesels are turbos, you are wrong.

    You never said current diesels, you said all, and once again you want to change what you said.......you said ALL not "well if was snowing when it was made" you said ALL and you are wrong.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,704
    I'll remember to give full vehicle and technology histories the next time I make a comment, however obvious it is to all those actually contributing to the discussion.
  • fho2008fho2008 Member Posts: 393
    Please do. When you say all diesels are turbos you may as well say all houses have basements, regardless of when they were built, that also is not true.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,704
    I guess I'll have to watch my comment that 'no cars have rumble seats'...
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited July 2013
    Maybe it'd help to just count them.

    Here's a start.

    Meanwhile, back to VW, guess what's coming back:

    "The Phaeton, the brand’s most expensive model, could be shown to U.S. consumers in January as VW prepares the car’s return after pulling it seven years ago because of weak sales. The reintroduction, which would complement the rollout of new sport-utility vehicles, is aimed at showing off VW’s engineering prowess as the lift from the mainstream Passat sedan fades."

    VW Brings Phaeton Flop Back to U.S. as Passat Sedan Fades (Bloomberg)
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Maybe VW sees our market for what it is. Baby Boomers buying higher end vehicles. If I was at all interested in a luxury car, I would likely buy the Phaeton over the A8. Just because the fish mouth has never appealed to me. I am very close to pulling the trigger on VW's halo vehicle the Touareg. I cannot get Mercedes to go lower. I feel VW Touareg offers more for the buyer in luxury than the Mercedes ML. You know I am not brand snob, I bought a Toyota. Besides I am cheering for VW to over take Toyota and Government Motors, soon to be China Motors.
  • Kirstie_HKirstie_H Administrator Posts: 11,148
    edited July 2013
    A news reporter is looking to talk with a Volkswagen owner-enthusiast for an upcoming story. If you think you can help, please send a message with your preferred contact information to pr@edmunds.com by Sunday, August 4, 2013.

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  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2013
    Every other manufacturer is seeing increased sales except VW the last few months. What happened to their big push?

    "One exception was Volkswagen, which after gaining ground from the introduction of several new models in recent years has seen its momentum slow.

    Sales of the VW brand fell 3.3% to 35,799 vehicles compared to the same month a year earlier."

    July auto sales: Chrysler, Nissan post big gains; Volkswagen falls (LA Times)

    It's not all doom and gloom though - Volkswagen Suprises With a Profit Boost (fool.com)
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,704
    Kind of what I expected. Sure, they were able to improve for a while, but all the other companies aren't just sitting around, they ALL have the same goal of increasing sales. VW wasn't just going to walk away with it. And for US sales, yes they're way up from a few years ago, but that's partly because of how far their US sales had fallen. Look further back and they're not much improved.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    No trucks in the lineup must be hurting.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    You make too much of the vehicle count. VW excels over all the others with good profit margin. They made more net profit last year than Toyota and GM combined. That is the bottom line. I would imagine that pile of cash makes it easier for them to offer 0 down and 0% interest for 5 years. I'm lovin' it.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,704
    You're right about the profit margins. That's more important to long term company health. However, it's VW that boasted about their sales growth, and they're being held accountable for their statements and claims.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2013
    You make too much of the vehicle count.

    Yep, VW is the one that said they were going to be the world's number one by 2018, and they were talking about sales. (link)
  • ohenryxohenryx Member Posts: 285
    Apparently they're planning to become number one in car sales worldwide by concentrating on China, because lord knows the EU is in serious trouble and VW simply isn't doing well in the US.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    They are doing well in the emerging markets like India, China and Brazil. They are still by far number one in the EU. And they were only a handful shy of knocking GM off in 2012.
    VW 9.27 million
    GM 9.3 million
    They have 5 years and lots of cash to spend. Are any other companies offering 0 dn and 0% for 60 months? I would imagine you have to have good credit to get that?
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    edited August 2013
    There sales overall are down. The TDI is more than pulling it's weight. As the salesman told me they have to take so many gas Touaregs for every TDI they get. Who in their right mind would buy a gas Touareg?

    Volkswagen’s high-mileage, TDI® Clean Diesel models accounted for 29.9 percent of sales in July, and 23.3 percent year-to-date, the best July and year-to-date results ever.

    http://www.media.vw.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=E533F1FE004B59F5FBD0E52642625F- - 41?&id=1422&allImage=1&teaser=volkswagen-america-reports-july-2013-sales&mid=
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    60th anniversary of a classic - I especially like the "poor mans" tag.

    Volkswagen Celebrates 60 Years of the Karmann Ghia, But Won't Revive Brand

    image
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "After three years of strong gains, Volkswagen AG is scrambling to halt an unexpected U.S. sales slump and get its ambitious American expansion back on track. Sales of VW-brand cars doubled between 2009 and 2012, but have fallen 1.3% so far this year. The overall U.S. market is up 9.6% this year.

    Volkswagen's difficulties in the U.S. threaten Mr. Winterkorn's global expansion strategy, known as Mach 18. The plan calls for the auto maker to pass General Motors Co.and Toyota Motor Corp. to become the world's largest auto maker by 2018. VW is close to its goal thanks to rapid growth in China and rising sales of its Audi luxury cars.

    VW's $1 Billion Bet on U.S. Factory Sputters (Wall St. Journal - may be a registration only link).
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I don't think VW should play the sales number game with Toyota and GM. They are far and away the most profitable auto maker in the World. VW made more than GM, Toyota, Ford and Chrysler combined. If I was a stockholder I would say keep doing what you are doing. Just bring more diesel models to the US Market. I personally think Toyota will end up 3rd place WW soon. They are not big in emerging markets like China and Brazil. Gm is holding their own here and WW.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    It's kind of funny that their competition (Fiat/Chrysler anyway) is relying on US sales to support the company back home in the EU.

    The Journal story noted that some potential buyers noticed how the Tennessee Passat (and now Jetta) were decontented. VW may have lowered the prices to compensate, but Toyota and Honda et. al. were smurfing up their models with fancier interiors.
  • ohenryxohenryx Member Posts: 285
    If you owned one of the older Passats, and go in to test drive the new model, you will dam*ed sure notice the difference.

    And if you're comparing the 2.0T engine to the 2.5L, it is beyond night and day.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Why would anyone buy a Passat gasser. It goes beyond normal logic. Yes they are a good looking car. But why settle for a mediocre gas engine, when VW sells state of the art diesels?
  • ohenryxohenryx Member Posts: 285
    I assume you're talking about the 2.5L engine? No one who's ever driven the 2.0T would call it a "mediocre gas engine"! Just a dam*ed shame you can't get that engine in the Passat anymore.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I can understand VW decontenting to satisfy the American driver. They for the most part have no concept of what a decent car can be like to drive. I personally would not buy any vehicle that is trying to compete with a CamCord. Both pure junk in My not so humble opinion.

    Take CA, no seriously Take CA. They think a Prius is worth owning. How stupid are CA buyers. Noisy, rough riding expensive, for a few more MPG. Not to mention BUTT ugly. And we are polluted with their ugliness everywhere in CA. Thankfully most are North of the LA county border up where the real Fruits, Nuts and Flakes reside. ;-)
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Yes the turbo 2.0 was a fast engine. But a poor mileage with Premium gas. I drove both in 2005 when I bought the Passat Wagon TDI. And liked the feel of the TDI much better than the 1.8T gasser. That smooth diesel power without 5000 RPM to get it.

    VW has the diesel market in this country. And they need to keep cars in stock. Instead of pushing the gassers they get stuck with. VW is overall 30% selling diesel. The Sportswagen is 80% diesel now. That says a lot to me.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    And lost it.

    They were in the U.S. decades before Honda and Toyota. They built rugged little cars that were primitive and cheap to buy and to repair.

    Then the world changed and they went downhill. Smog and safety requirements killed the beetle and the much loved vans.

    Quality went from excellent to horrible. The Rabbits were probably the best example of this and things didn't get much better after that.

    VW has a LONG road to travel before confidence is restored. I grew up with Volkswagens and I will always have a soft spot for them.

    Quality was so bad that the General Manager at the Honda store I worked at made us wholesale evry one we took as a trade UNLESS they happened to be under warranty. I think that speaks volumes.

    I suppose time will tell.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I was glad I "switched" to a Datsun instead of getting into a Rabbit back in the day (I had several Bugs, but wanted a wagon). Saved me a lot of money I'm sure. The Volvo would have sunk me too, but it was a "family" car that I just drove some.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Americans don't like diesel cars. Well, perhaps that's a bit strong. They are totally indifferent to diesel cars. You can talk all day long to the average American car buyer about diesels, and the response is "yeah, whatever".
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I tried to get a VW Dasher diesel wagon in 1978. The wait was over a year. I needed a car that got better mileage than my 1976 Datsun PU truck for my 150 mile a day commute in MN. So I bought a Honda Accord hatch. That car was nothing but problems from day one. The Honda Motorcycle shop that sold them was ill equipped and trained to fix the myriad problems. So it was NOT just VW having issues in the Rabbit era. Seems GM was also selling crap to the public.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    The mpg may have been lousy but I bet the Datsun ran okay.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    Actually the 1976 Datsun was a disappointment after my wonderful 1970 Datsun PU. The 70 Datsun would start at 30 below zero without being plugged in all day at work. The 76 I bought new in MN. It would not start at 5 above zero unless I left it parked in the garage or barn. I don't remember the mileage on either one. When I bought the Honda I sold the PU to my cousin that kept it and used it for 20+ years. Until it completely rusted away. I think the whole late 1970s era was horrible. That included the auto industry as well as the country as a whole. Farmers around us going broke, interest over 20%. I shudder thinking of that period of time.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited September 2013
    The mid-70s was my whitewater canoeing decade and I got in over 100 days or so. I was making around $8k a year and bought my first house ($19k) and the CJ-5. First trip to AK in a Bug. Terrific time. :-)
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I did great up until 1977 when I decided I wanted to own a farm and raise my kids in a rural community. That was the beginning of the end of my $50k nest egg, I had built up working in Alaska for 7.5 years. When I went back to work in Alaska in 1980 I barely had enough for the airfare back. Took me a good 10 years to recover from that big mistake.

    I hope that $8k was not in Alaska. When I hit Anchorage in April 1970 you could not find a decent home under $40k. Except maybe Nunaka Valley. My RCA starting pay in 1970 was just under $18k. About a $7k raise from San Diego. Not enough for me to buy a home in Anchorage at the time.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Chattanooga, back in the day when the foundries were shutting down, as well as the tannery. Bunch of other stuff was closed or closing, either because they were gross polluters or because the plants hadn't been modernized in forever.

    They started turning it around in the 80s; the VW plant (and Amazon) are nice to have but they are just icing on the economy down there now. Privatizing TVA would hurt, but that pinko commie socialist Coker won't stand for that LOL.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    All I remember of Chattanooga in 1973 was a black haze over the city. It seemed very black and dirty. I went up shopping for antiques while at school in Atlanta. My only time in the city. Has it improved since then? Great big antique warehouse there. I still have two bronzes I bought there. They are far better than money in the bank.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited September 2013
    There's some big chemical plants on the river; no overt pollution but if something goes haywire, a big corridor will have to be evacuated (ditto the nuke plant). But the air looks clean. They were doing emissions testing when I was living there in the 70s, trying to clean up the valley. I remember the regulators fighting a cement plant at the time.

    I remember the warehouse but I never went in there. My mom burned me out on antiquing when she'd drag me around to auctions in the 60s to do the lifting.

    VW turned on their 33,600 solar panels this year, so they are doing their part for the air I guess. (chattanoogan.com)
  • berriberri Member Posts: 10,165
    I recall Chattanooga being like a Gary, Indiana in the south too. But these days you don't see the yellow sulfuric haze over Gary anymore flying into O'Hare, so I'm assuming they've cleaned up Chattanooga and Birmingham as well.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Volkswagen will add a midsize SUV that it likely will produce in Tennessee to compete with the Chevrolet Traverse, Ford Escape and Toyota Highlander.

    A formal decision to build the vehicle should come before the end of the year, but Marc Trahan, VW of America executive vice president for quality, told the Automotive Press Association in Detroit today that its Chattanooga plant “is in the lead” to build it."

    VW likely to build midsize SUV at Chattanooga (Detroit Free Press)
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "Brazil is the last place in the world still producing the iconic vehicle, or “bus” as it’s known by aficionados, but VW says production will end Dec. 31. Safety regulations mandate that every vehicle in Brazil must have air bags and anti-lock braking systems starting in 2014, and the company says it cannot change production to meet the law."

    Long, strange trip ending for VW's hippie van (Detroit News)
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I was at a car show and chili cookoff Sat. A guy had a Transporter PU. It was in perfect condition. He had a for sale sign for $30,000. Seems high to me.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Seems high. I've seen restored ones sell for $16K-$20K on eBay.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    There are a couple of VW Things in great condition around me. That is the only old VW I am intrigued with enough to spend money on them. They sell in the $4k-$5k range.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I'd like to have a Thing.
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    I'm thinking that since VW has world-wide distribution, it could reintroduce the Thing, using the Polo or Golf platform. It would probably sell in decent numbers if it were sold in Europe, China, India, Africa and the Americas.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I hear the last one will be built for the Pope.

    image
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    That can't be right - Francis would row his own gears. :-)
  • ohenryxohenryx Member Posts: 285
    I was at the VW dealer last Saturday afternoon. I sat in a CC (didn't fit), drove a Tiguan and a Passat TDI. A few minutes after driving the Passat TDI, I sat in (but did not drive) a Jetta. From the driver's seat, the Jetta seemed very, very, very similar to the Passat. I was under the impression that there was supposed to be more of a difference in the size?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    What's the problem?

    In a nutshell, VW doesn't sell pickups in the US.

    Gas is "cheap" (or at least prices are stable) and buyers are jumping into trucks and SUVs. (WSJ)
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