Editorial: Volkswagen's Plan For A Cheaper Phaeton Is Another Disaster In The Making

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

The internet is abuzz with the possibility that the Volkswagen Phaeton might make a return to the United States – with a cheaper price point as well. Unfortunately, it’s a terrible idea. But not for the reason you might think.

At this point in the essay, other outlets would launch into a heartfelt soliloquy about the Phaeton’s technological brilliance, its lack of appreciation by the buying public and how a lower price point would tarnish its legacy as a Bentley Flying Spur built with the wrong badge.

None of that matters. Virtually nobody in America cared about the Phaeton, and fewer people bought one – save for our EIC pro tem, who has a great track record of buying rare, enthusiast vehicles that people praise online but consistently fail to purchase.

The big issue with this plan is that it is unbelievably nonsensical when looked at from a “business case” standpoint. The full-size car market is constantly contracting, with most nameplates – especially the Ford Taurus that VW cited as possible competition – seeing declining sales. Overall, the segment relies on fleet sales for about 50 percent of its volume – but given VW’s tactic of dumping Jettas and Passats in rental fleets, it might be possible to get a “Volkswagen Phaeton or similar” on your 2017 Disneyworld Vacation to Orlando.

Even more ironic is what’s taking sales away from full-size sedans. It’s crossovers, particularly the larger kind that VW doesn’t have, the kind that dealers are crying out for, the kind that VW cannot decide on where to build. For all its success in the rest of the world, Volkswagen seems constitutionally incapable of understanding the American market and its tastes. Some things can be chalked up to miscalculations. If the Phaeton arrives before a full-size crossover, it will be nothing less than unforgivable stupidity.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Neil Davidson Neil Davidson on May 21, 2014

    I think this is a great idea. Now that the Passat is a stretched Golf (transverse FWD only), they have a spot to fill. When the B5 Passat came out '97, it was a rebadged Audi A4. I might be a little subjective here because I have one a love it. It was a great car and VW sold a lot of them. When the B6 Passat came out, it wasn't the same. The B5 is the superior with a longitudinal motor with AWD capabilities. If they make a rebadged A4 now, it's bigger than the Passat, so what will they call it? Phaeton. I see this car as the true successor to the B5 Passat.

  • Dmw Dmw on May 21, 2014

    I see a new "phaeton" for the U.S. as a stretched (~112in WB) MBQ CC with the multitude of blanks around the shifter filled in with the features not normally supplied in the U.S., and standard AWD. There is your 55K K900 "beater", if you like. This may be the China-market NMC thingy they showed last month, but maybe with more chrome. I agree that no one really cares about "flagship" sedans anymore. BMW's flagschiff is now the X-something, not the Siebener. In the U.S., if it's a sedan, people want a sporty thing, not a boat, espeically given the Graf Spee-like scale of current flagships.

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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