Quote of the Day: Car Designer As Rock Star Edition

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: September 28th, 2009

quote of the day car designer as rock star edition

In the past two years I have spent more time with (VW group CEO) Dr. Winterkorn than with my wife

So sayeth VW Group Design Boss Walter De Silva in Automotive News [sub]. “When I think about the Golf VII, I do not sleep at night,” he adds. Considering that, as head of styling for Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen, De Silva manages about 100 projects at a time, so it’s no wonder Mrs. De Silva takes second place to Herr Winterkorn.

Edward Niedermeyer

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4 of 21 comments

Snsr on Sep 29, 2009

@keepaustinweird , Good call. I drove one, they go like stink. But, even though I'd be on the inside most of the time (which is nice,) I don't care for it's SMILE : ) I can't stop seeing it.

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Mpresley on Sep 29, 2009
FreedMike :I mean, 28 grand for a base Passat with vinyl seats, to compete against fully loaded $25,000 Accords? It's something not easily explained. IMO, a Passat is a much better car than an Accord. But I understand I'm in the minority. I really don't think VW will succeed in its goal of becoming a major US player until them make softer cars with more cup holders. It's just the American way.

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FreedMike on Sep 30, 2009
mpresley : September 29th, 2009 at 6:44 pm It’s something not easily explained. IMO, a Passat is a much better car than an Accord. But I understand I’m in the minority. Perhaps, but is the stripper Passat at $28,000 three grand better than a fully loaded Accord at $25,000 - or six grand better than a base Accord, for that matter? If the answer were "yes," then it'd be the Passat at the top of the sales charts, not the Accord. I don't think VW needs to 'soften' its cars to succeed. What VW needs to do is lower their prices. They can do that by builidng Passats here in the States.

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Johnny ro on Sep 30, 2009

In 1986 I spend time with a friends 1980 Golf GTI imported to Sag Harbor NY from London. It was clean and beautiful, gray with minimal black vinyl interior, gray/black plaid bucket seats, revved to 7k and was snappy and fun. Wonderful car. Yeah, it rusted. All cars did. I was horrified at US version A1 GTI, with maroon tufted stuffed vinyl padded everything and ugly front and trim. If I hadn't known the UK one I would not be horrified though, it was great for then in USA. I remember reading Westmoreland was not a greenfield plant, they pirated Detroit management from, well, Detroit. Of course that failed. In Boston Passat CCs are advertised for 24k. If only I needed a car right now.

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