Edmunds' list of upcoming/future models...

http://www.edmunds.com/future/all/in...excontent..0.*

13 new models from MB, with some being totally new lines. Man, they are just ramping it up...

Junkster, who wonders when Acura will ever have 13 new models

 

yeah! 2005 Audi A8 L W12!

W12!!!

 

wow lots of new cars

a few look like the cars in their concept state, I am assuming some of these car may not look the same when the come out....am I correct?

 

yea, some of these are just guesses, along with the best concept photos/spy shots they could manage...

Junkster, who does like the sound of a W12 A8

 

W12, V8 M3, RS4 to america, its gonna be hot!

 

an s3 would be interesting...

Junkster, who thinks that's not even offered in europe

 

i'll take one of each plz!

 

No radical changes? Yeah, right...

 

From Edmonds:
I always ASSUMED VW owns Audi AND Porsche, but......

From CanadiaDriver.com:
interesting and informative article:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/pw/brands.htm

thanks

 

well, porsche and VW will forever be linked by Piech family lineage.

Junkster, who thinks the two companies should be together

 

think about it... VW drops Bugatti and Lambo, keeps Skoda or Seat as it's bargin line, VW as general line, Audi as lux line, and porsche as it's sports car line... That would make sense instead of VW wasting money on Bugatti and two basement car companies, along with Lambo, which they had to pump alot of money into to get it revived.

Junkster, who thinks Piech would be proud

 

i think vw should drop all their lines and get back to the drawing boards on 'reliability'

 

I HEAR THAT!! The coil situation wasn't that long ago.

How come none of you mentioned the upcoming Acura RL. I'm can't wait for the first review of the SH_AWD.

 

Cuz we already talked it to death!!!

Junkster, who won't talk about it until some new driving review comes out

 

I've always wondered what is VW's intention with regards to buying these niche companies. Both Bugatti and Lambo both do not move enough vehicles to make these individual companies profitable. And what's with the Bugatti supercar? I think that car has been a concept car for about 10 years.

 

I don't think VW can afford Porsche. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems as though VW's 15 minutes of fame are running down to the last few minutes. They had some AMAZING designs come out a few years ago, that were wildly popular, but you can only do so much with VW's minimalistic, simple styling approach.

Further, it seems as though their climb "upwards" in the market isn't doin' too well--look at Touareg, Phaeton, and Passat W8 sales. How many have you seen driving down the road? I haven't seen a single Phaeton, and see only 2 or 3 of the others per week. VW makes some awesome, reasonably priced cars. And even their up-market products are AMAZING! But there's no brand recogintion--no history of a VW selling for more than $30k. Have you ever told someone how much VW's SUV costs? Can you imagine the looks on their regular customers faces as they casually look at one in the showroom? You can't just move upmarket, no matter how good the product is. The lux market is a tough one to enter.

 

The Veyron is turning into one of the biggest fiascos of automotive history...

The car's been delayed for the last four years, the engineers still haven't worked out all the bugs, and even the VW board has criticised the development...

CAR magazine carried pics of the Veyron track testing in the US to ensure the company brasses and potential buyers of the car's performance... then it spun out of control as it reached 100mph... pathetic.

The handling is supposedly so horrid that the VW board is considering just cancelling the whole thing...

Junkster, who thinks VW is gonna have to bite the bullet on this one

 

Good find Junkster!

 

That's a shame. Not like I was going to buy one but it is a truely beautiful car.

 

VW is gonna have to bite the bullet right and left. As they did with the W8 Passat. As they will eventually do with the Phaeton. As they just might have to do with the Touareg.

See a trend, VW? You aren't ready for an up-market move.

 

The Touareg isn't doing well?

 

I think VW's current situation can be attributed to Ferdinand Piech's desire to leave a mark on the company before he stepped down from the CEO position. As it stands, the his desire to move the VW image into a higher marque is not embraced by the general public. This means that the mess created by the previous CEO is now the new CEO's (Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder) responsibility.
As it stands, it would not be a wise financial decision to abandon the projects now. I would assume that the new production facilities are heavily financed and terminating any project before any profit can be realized would not be a wise decision. As Junkster mentioned, maybe it is time for VAG to bite the bullet.
VW needs to focus on what they do best. They make cars for the people...not the rich. In today's brand image driven society, I'm am certain that the Toureg and the Phaeton would do better with an Audi badge on their grill. Oh wait...there is another version of the Phaeton. Can we say Audi A8?

 

Not in the Portland/Vancouver area, at least. I haven't even seen very many in places that I've traveled to recently (including Scottsdale, AZ)

 

is the W8 Passat going to die?!?!

 

The W8 won't be making an appearence in the next generation

 

they are all over the place in CO

 

unfortunately I guess that makes sence, I see more ferrari 355's than I do W8's, its a niche $40 car. Still a cool car :'(

 

True, Ferdinand put all these bad deals into motion... and they thought they could turn around companies that were on the downturn and was available for cheap. But his predecessors still really don't have full control, from what I've read on VW. Their accounting isn't clear, they still answer to Fredinand with decisions and they keep secrets about their products to a point where it's just not safe.

Junkster, who thinks VW spread themselves too thin

 

Yup, almost see one or two every day I'm on the road...

Junkster, who thinks they might be used/former lease cars

 

Yeah, I wouldn't say a car isn't doing well just because you don't see many around. I don't see many in my area (besides a guy in the office that has one), but I wouldn't use that as any indication.

 

oops...screwed up on the whole Touareg thing...

Just found an article that the Slovakian factory is having a hard time keeping up with demand

 

They're made in Slovakia? :sqnteek:

 

I can't name no VW besides the phaton that's made in Germany...

Junkster, who thinks the R Golf is still made in Germany

 

I believe Passats are

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2004/volk.....8.Volkswagen*

 

I wouldn't go as far as saying they're everywhere, but I do see them much more than I initially thought I would. It's pretty much in the same price range as the RX330, MDX, SRX, ML350, etc., and I thought the asking price without the luxury service would've turned people away. At least my theory worked for the Phaeton

 

The Touaregs are actually doing quite well. American customers will buy pretty much any SUV (witness the Escalade). Also, the Touareg is also at, or near the head of its class, and is priced reasonably considering the equipment you can get in it. I can tell you for sure that its a great vehicle, and thankfully my VW dealer is awesome (although the only time it was there was for its first service).

 

Now I remember seeing you VWvortex under the Touareg section...you own one!

I personally LOVE the Touareg...but the reliability issues would make me hesitant. I'm so tied emotionally to it, however, that I think I would end up with it over any of the other SUVs in its range. You got any pics of yours? I'd love to see some

 

Yup, that's me on the Vortex. I had a GTI 1.8T a few years ago and never had a problem with it, so I wasn't too scared. I'm of the mind set that I can deal with a few problems if its the vehicle I really really want.

I'd post some pics, but last time I did from imagestation they wouldn't work. Anyone know of a good free place to host pics?

 

Photobucket

 

I have the sme feeling :P The guys who bought my prelude is a VW/AUDI mechanic. He told me dun buy ne used VW/AUDI. If in case I really want a VW/AUDI, go lease it for 3yr the max! Even the forth year is still under warranty but you dun want to travel to the dealer every 2 weeks! And also none of their mechanic from that dealer are willing to pay their own money on a VW/AUDI products.

BTW, I think VW are already price their Jetta, Passat as expensive as BMW, so what's the point for them to move to up-scale market???