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The times, they are a changin'

Saved me the trouble of posting 🙂

Very weird news to wake up to. You know, truly, I know ONE person who owns a VW and that person is at work. None of my family or friends own a VW or an Audi and there are damn near none of them at work when I drive by the various cars, either. I never would have thought this. I guess VW just has no market share in the US.
 
Originally posted by: boomerang
Toyota, say it ain't so!?!?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200...us_volkswagen_toyota_2

Volkswagen, meanwhile, is benefiting from government stimulus plans that have boosted sales in China, Germany and Brazil, which together accounted for 44 percent of group sales last year, making it more likely that it beat Toyota or at least came close.
Click to expand...

I wonder, is there any auto company in the world that doesn't need government help?
Click to expand...

Interesting. Has VW gone up in reliabilty lately?

 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Saved me the trouble of posting 🙂

Very weird news to wake up to. You know, truly, I know ONE person who owns a VW and that person is at work. None of my family or friends own a VW or an Audi and there are damn near none of them at work when I drive by the various cars, either. I never would have thought this. I guess VW just has no market share in the US.
Click to expand...

Their market share in the US is poor, but their global sales are right about the same as Ford.

Here are some numbers:

Toyota 9,497,754
General Motors 9,349,818
VW 6,346,222
Ford 6,247,506
Hyundai/Kia 3,987,055
Honda 3,911,814
Peugeot/Citroën 3,457,385
Nissan 3,431,398
Fiat 2,679,451
Renault 2,669,040
Suzuki 2,596,316
Chrysler 2,538,624
Daimler 2,096,977
BMW 1,541,503
Mitsubishi 1,411,975
Click to expand...
.
 
Originally posted by: Strk
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Saved me the trouble of posting 🙂

Very weird news to wake up to. You know, truly, I know ONE person who owns a VW and that person is at work. None of my family or friends own a VW or an Audi and there are damn near none of them at work when I drive by the various cars, either. I never would have thought this. I guess VW just has no market share in the US.
Click to expand...

Their market share in the US is poor, but their global sales are right about the same as Ford.

Here are some numbers:

Toyota 9,497,754
General Motors 9,349,818
VW 6,346,222
Ford 6,247,506
Hyundai/Kia 3,987,055
Honda 3,911,814
Peugeot/Citroën 3,457,385
Nissan 3,431,398
Fiat 2,679,451
Renault 2,669,040
Suzuki 2,596,316
Chrysler 2,538,624
Daimler 2,096,977
BMW 1,541,503
Mitsubishi 1,411,975
Click to expand...
.
Click to expand...

I am not suprised. It's their dealers in the US. They want you to pay sticker and nothing else (other dealers do to, but VW dealers are just arrogant). I was going to buy a Rabbit, but they would not even talk down the price with me. I went to another VW dealer....same thing. Waited 3 weeks, saw an ad that had it for the price I wanted...Went down....nope....that car is gone, take this one for sticker.
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Saved me the trouble of posting 🙂

Very weird news to wake up to. You know, truly, I know ONE person who owns a VW and that person is at work. None of my family or friends own a VW or an Audi and there are damn near none of them at work when I drive by the various cars, either. I never would have thought this. I guess VW just has no market share in the US.
Click to expand...

in a lot of European countries, the number one selling car every year is the VW Golf.
their marketshare is still growing in Europe and is now over 20%
 
I said this somewhere else before, but the crap reliability of the previous generation of VWs were related to the new-ness of the Puebla factory in Mexico. Studies done by VWs own internal audit showed roughly 15% more problems occuring with the Mexican built units versus the German ones.

They basically cleaned house with the start of the MKv platform, moved the Rabbit/Golf back to Germany and conducted much stricter training procedures with their factory workers. Quality has risen sharply as a result.
 
Originally posted by: angry hampster
Originally posted by: MBrown


Interesting. Has VW gone up in reliabilty lately?
Click to expand...

Since 2003, hugely.
Click to expand...

Probably. But the Jetta I was renting a month or so ago started to sputter and almost lost power on the freeway when I was going about 50mph. The check-engine light came on as well and went away a bit later. I returned the car the same day to Enterprise and told the attendant that there was an issue with the car. He just nodded. 5 min later, I saw them hand over the car to someone else.
 
Originally posted by: zoiks
Originally posted by: angry hampster
Originally posted by: MBrown


Interesting. Has VW gone up in reliabilty lately?
Click to expand...

Since 2003, hugely.
Click to expand...

Probably. But the Jetta I was renting a month or so ago started to sputter and almost lost power on the freeway when I was going about 50mph. The check-engine light came on as well and went away a bit later. I returned the car the same day to Enterprise and told the attendant that there was an issue with the car. He just nodded. 5 min later, I saw them hand over the car to someone else.
Click to expand...

And this demonstrates unreliability how? All cars will have issues, just because this rental place didn't bother to fix the car doesn't paint the picture for the whole brand.


It's really not surprising to see VW up there. They own a good number of different brands which all sell a lot of cars, especially in Europe. Just in the US they've never been incredibly successful. Even so I see VW's all over the place, and the latest Jetta seems to be a popular choice especially among the college crowd.
 
Originally posted by: DEMO24
Originally posted by: zoiks
Originally posted by: angry hampster
Originally posted by: MBrown


Interesting. Has VW gone up in reliabilty lately?
Click to expand...

Since 2003, hugely.
Click to expand...

Probably. But the Jetta I was renting a month or so ago started to sputter and almost lost power on the freeway when I was going about 50mph. The check-engine light came on as well and went away a bit later. I returned the car the same day to Enterprise and told the attendant that there was an issue with the car. He just nodded. 5 min later, I saw them hand over the car to someone else.
Click to expand...

And this demonstrates unreliability how? All cars will have issues, just because this rental place didn't bother to fix the car doesn't paint the picture for the whole brand.


It's really not surprising to see VW up there. They own a good number of different brands which all sell a lot of cars, especially in Europe. Just in the US they've never been incredibly successful. Even so I see VW's all over the place, and the latest Jetta seems to be a popular choice especially among the college crowd.
Click to expand...

I don't have a lot of experience with VW's but the one time I did rent one, it had a quirk. That's all I was pointing out given the fact that VW's have built up a negative reputation about their electricals.
 
Originally posted by: zoiks
Originally posted by: DEMO24
Originally posted by: zoiks
Originally posted by: angry hampster
Originally posted by: MBrown


Interesting. Has VW gone up in reliabilty lately?
Click to expand...

Since 2003, hugely.
Click to expand...

Probably. But the Jetta I was renting a month or so ago started to sputter and almost lost power on the freeway when I was going about 50mph. The check-engine light came on as well and went away a bit later. I returned the car the same day to Enterprise and told the attendant that there was an issue with the car. He just nodded. 5 min later, I saw them hand over the car to someone else.
Click to expand...

And this demonstrates unreliability how? All cars will have issues, just because this rental place didn't bother to fix the car doesn't paint the picture for the whole brand.


It's really not surprising to see VW up there. They own a good number of different brands which all sell a lot of cars, especially in Europe. Just in the US they've never been incredibly successful. Even so I see VW's all over the place, and the latest Jetta seems to be a popular choice especially among the college crowd.
Click to expand...

I don't have a lot of experience with VW's but the one time I did rent one, it had a quirk. That's all I was pointing out given the fact that VW's have built up a negative reputation about their electricals.
Click to expand...

Well it was a rental, for all you know it had 2 quarts of oil in it 😛

VW is not priced well in the US to complete with what consumer perceptions are here. People would rather have an accord for a bit less, or a BMW/Merc for a bit more. In europe they have a reputation of building premium quality compact cars and sedans. Also, Europe does get a lot of their quirkier (neater) models than we do.

Little known fact, the Phaeton outsold the 7 series and S class in its first year of production in Germany
 
Originally posted by: angry hampster
Originally posted by: MBrown


Interesting. Has VW gone up in reliabilty lately?
Click to expand...

Since 2003, hugely.
Click to expand...

Yea its gone from completly worthless to it might make it 30k before it needs major repair.

VW is still near the bottom for reliabilty. They have got better but everybody has gotten even better then that.


<-- About to go outside and replace fuel pump of SiL's audi A4 with less then 40k on it.
 
VW is thriving cause their exposure to American market was nil
Since this market collapsed 50% they haven't suffered, and the Japanese domestic market has been on a downslide for yrs.
Now add in German gov't clunker program and voila strong VW sales
Luckily they weren't exposed to the worst markets

Their cars used to be quite poor, and expensive to repair and maintain, and their dealership structure in NA was always rated at the bottom. Just Terrible really.
So their cars are better but dealerships are still bottom ranked but that still doesn't tell the whole story
 
Originally posted by: PhoKingGuy
I said this somewhere else before, but the crap reliability of the previous generation of VWs were related to the new-ness of the Puebla factory in Mexico. Studies done by VWs own internal audit showed roughly 15% more problems occuring with the Mexican built units versus the German ones.

They basically cleaned house with the start of the MKv platform, moved the Rabbit/Golf back to Germany and conducted much stricter training procedures with their factory workers. Quality has risen sharply as a result.
Click to expand...

they also simplified the (typical german) over-engineering of the platform.
 
My 2003 golf needed a new engine after 120,000 miles even after proper oil changes recommended by VW. The engine was gunked to high hell. My window motor stopped working at 40,000 miles, my "auto" window down function stopped working altogether, the tape deck died after only a few weeks of use. The hood latch snapped off when handled normally. The ashtray sliding cover popped off one day randomly and never would stay securely in place from then on.

It was very enjoyable to drive and I loved the car, but yes, owning a VW is like living with a really sexy but borderline schizo girlfriend.
 
Originally posted by: nerp
My 2003 golf needed a new engine after 120,000 miles even after proper oil changes recommended by VW. The engine was gunked to high hell. My window motor stopped working at 40,000 miles, my "auto" window down function stopped working altogether, the tape deck died after only a few weeks of use. The hood latch snapped off when handled normally. The ashtray sliding cover popped off one day randomly and never would stay securely in place from then on.

It was very enjoyable to drive and I loved the car, but yes, owning a VW is like living with a really sexy but borderline schizo girlfriend.
Click to expand...

Got 103k miles on the 2000 Jetta, no major problems yet. :knockonwood;

My sisters Audi on the otherhand is a freaking nightmare.
 
VWs are an integral part of my car rotation...I drive one every chance I get. Being a tech forum where everything is measured quantitatively, its hard to describe why VWs are worth the trouble. They are not faster, better made, or economical than any of their competitors. In fact, they are often at a significant disadvantage in many quality and production categories. And yet, to the individuals who can appreciate the nuances of VW's suspension tuning, steering feel, etc., perhaps the choice to purchase a VW is more of an emotional decision rather than a logical one.
 
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