By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
;-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
My regret is how poor the resale of the Sequoia is holding up. It is a better vehicle than the GMC Hybrid PU. I was able to sell the GMC closer to what I paid than I believe will be the case with the Sequoia. We saw one of the Passat wagons yesterday and lamented selling it. Though it was still not what we wanted. Keep trying to find something we really like.
I think you are wrong on the potential for the diesel cars in the USA.
Yes US consumers are cheap and easily sold with Japanese and D3 bling.
Porsche, VW to put all brands under one roof
The Porsche and Piech families, owners of automaker Porsche and controller of Volkswagen, said on Tuesday that they will create a management unit to oversee all 10 of their auto brands.
.....It is not known who would be in charge of the new management unit. Ferdinand Piech is chairman at Volkswagen, while Wolfgang Porsche is chairman at Porsche Holding.
Late Wednesday, Porsche appeared to have abandoned takeover attempts of the much-larger VW.
Volkswagen owns nine brands--Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Commercial Vehicles and Scania AB.
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090506/CARNEWS/905069984
I think if they try to do much consolidation of management, they will run into the same problems as they have before: individual personality clashes and too much power placed in the hands of a few people who have some pretty wild ideas about what to do with the company.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Porsche Tries to Deflect Bankruptcy Talk (Inside Line)
VW Seals Deal for Porsche in Reversal of Fortune (Wall St. Journal).
Looks like Porsche's plans to swallow VW backfired. More debt and more stock to be watered down to pay for everything.
I just wish we had their full line of diesel vehicles in the USA. They have a small van that is really nice. Not that POC they buy from Chrysler.
"Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who is expected to run the combined entity, issued a statement on Friday saying the two were "jointly on track to become the worldwide number one."
Volkswagen To Buy 42 Percent Stake in Porsche by End of 2009 (Inside Line)
The only difference between VW and Toyota is that when Toyota cuts costs it does so in the cabin, while VW does so under the hood. High tech powertrains produced by cheap, poorly trained labor in 3rd world countries using cheap parts are not the formula for success, which is the mentality that VW must overcome.
Low tech powertrains produced by skilled but expensive labor and incorporated in vehicles with bargain basement interiors will not win Toyota too many contests in the long run either.
Seems to me GM has many of the problems of BOTH companies.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
When the heck did they make those?
When I was in school, my roomate had a Jetta of that era - it was only a few years old then. I swear that thing was in the shop every other week.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
"Ambitious Volkswagen is preparing a massive assault on the U.
clear pixel
S. market—the company wants to grow sales from something like 220,000 units annually to 800,000 by 2018. At the Los Angeles auto show, we spoke with U.S. CEO Stefan Jacoby and a few other insiders.
The cornerstone of Volkswagen’s U.S. strategy is the new Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant, which will build VW’s Camry-fighter, a.k.a. NMS (New Mid-Size Sedan). It will make its debut at the 2011 Detroit auto show. While this large sedan of over 192 inches is yet unnamed, Jacoby confirmed the smaller, Mexico-built NCS (New Compact sedan) will be called Jetta. Slated for a U.S. debut in June 2010, it will be exported to Europe in late 2010, where it might receive a different name. VW will continue to offer a GLI, based on the new Jetta."
VW will buy 19.9% stake in Suzuki, aims to pass No. 1 Toyota
December 9, 2009 - 2:31 am ET
UPDATED: 12/9/09 7:15 a.m. ET
TOKYO/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Volkswagen AG will buy a one-fifth stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. for $2.5 billion, tapping the Japanese firm's expertise in small cars and dominance in India as VW seeks to become the No.1 automaker.
....(VW chairman) Piech's top lieutenant, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, was hopeful the Suzuki alliance would help catapult the Wolfsburg-based carmaker past industry leader Toyota Motor Corp. ahead of plan.
"If that succeeds faster (than 2018), we're happy," a grinning Winterkorn told reporters as he sat next to Suzuki's nearly 80-year-old CEO Osamu Suzuki at a Tokyo press conference.
CEO Suzuki repeated that he did not intend the company he has led for three decades to come under VW's control.
"I don't want you to misunderstand: Suzuki is not becoming a 12th brand for Volkswagen," Suzuki said when asked whether the company might get a German CEO in the future. "I don't want other folks telling me how to do things."
....In the first six months of 2009, Volkswagen sold 3.265 million vehicles and Suzuki sold 1.15 million. Their combined sales of 4.415 million units would be larger than top-ranked Toyota's 3.564 million.
......In contrast to a potential pair-up between PSA and Mitsubishi Motors, which many regard as a union of the weak, Volkswagen and Suzuki are regarded as being among the stronger automakers thanks to their big exposure to China and India.
While major Western markets have suffered one of their worst years on record, booming sales in China and India are providing a lifeline.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20091209/COPY01/312099980/1193
Kind of makes you pause to hear that Suzuki sold 1.15 million vehicles worldwide in the first six months of the year, given what a tiny TINY presence they have in the U.S.
I hope that VW doesn't meddle with Suzuki's product decisions too much, but it doesn't sound like that's their intent. Even though VW does want the sales numbers and may eventually make Suzuki a subsidiary, this does sound more like a collaboration than other large corporate purchases of recent years.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
PS
VW passed Toyota in the 3rd quarter without Suzuki numbers.
It is smart for VW to leverage Suzuki's small and microcar sales in Asia rather than try and develop its Polo and Up! lines to increase sales in those areas. Although I did notice in my quick glance over a different article that VW does have significant plans for the Up! in the long term in that region.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
It seems to me that if VW had been #1 in sales last year, we would have heard more about it in the media.
Going forward, though, this sticky accelerator problem will negatively affect Toyota sales. For example, some people who would have automatically bought another Toyota, or their first Toyota, will now cross shop other brands. Here in the U.S., GM, Ford, Honda, Nissan and VW (not necessarilly in that order) should all benefit from Toyota's problem.
Bulli! VW's New Four-Wheeled Cast of Characters
2011 Geneva Motor Show: Volkswagen Bulli Microbus Concept (Inside Line)
If only it had sliders like the last "Microbus" concept.
I remember going to the NY Auto Show in 2001 (on Edmunds' nickle - won in a contest) and seeing the microbus concept. I was SO disappointed they didn't build it!
Still wish it had sliders, but I'll have to put it on the maybe list.
VW Big Profits, Microbus A Go (AutoObserver)
The minivan is making a slight clunk now and then shifting, but if I keep ignoring it, maybe we can get another 5 or 10 years out of it. I loved my Bugs and my sister's New Beetle drove good. Did several 9 hour trips in it and it was comfy driving and riding. The problems (mostly electrical) she had with it make me wonder though.