Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 22:19:28 -0500
Reply-To: wilden1@JUNO.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Subject: Re: New microbus is a go.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Well guys the picture is of a concept car.
If this vehicle comes to market with any similarities I'd very surprised.
I think it looks very good but many of the snappy design features will be
lost to practical utility functions.
Perhaps it might be introduced as a hybrid of electric and hydrogen or
electric and other alternative fuel.
Almost all of the original VW busses were delivery vehicles and
transitioned to passenger vans and campers.
So those of you with any desire to get your orders in should start saving
for that $55,000.00 price tag and the delivery date of late in 2004.
I'll be hanging in with my old Air Cooled Westfalia waiting for VW to
produce a camper model that I can drool over but I'd seriously doubt that
I'll ever have another Westy other than the current one.
Stan Wilder
1983 Air Cooled Westfalia
On Tue, 11 Jun 2002 19:58:26 -0700 Ari Ollikainen <Ari@OLTECO.COM>
writes:
> At 9:36 PM -0500 6/11/02, Dave Baker wrote:
>
> > VWTV? Must be a cable channel...
> >
> > Where do you pick that up?
>
>
> It's no secret...here are the details:
>
> GERMANY: VW to build Microbus at Hanover 11 Jun 2002
> Source: just-auto.com editorial team
> http://just-auto.com/news_detail.asp?art=38161&dm=yes&c=1
>
> Volkswagen has given the Microbus, designed in California and
> unveiled as a concept vehicle at the 2001 Detroit motor show, the
> go-ahead and will build the new minivan at its Hanover site.
>
> The decision means 1,500 new jobs for the Hanover plant which will
> be
> created as part of the unique 5000 x 5000 labour model.
>
> Under this new concept, Volkswagen AG will employ a total of 5,000
> persons for a gross wage of DM 5,000 (¤ 2,556). The decision to
> create 3,500 new jobs to produce a minivan at the Wolfsburg plant
> was
> already taken last year.
>
> "Having reviewed the economic requirements for building the
> Microbus
> in the group, we have come to the conclusion that, based on the
> 5000
> x 5000 project and a thorough restructuring of the Hanover site,
> the
> conditions are good," said chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder.
>
> Reports from Germany say that the other candidate for the project
> was
> VW's factory in Palmela, Portugal, where it currently produces the
> Sharan people carrier.
>
> According to the reports, VW management delayed the decision on
> where
> the vehicle would be produced due to the lack of visibility of the
> US
> vehicle market - the main market envisaged for the Microbus - and
> due
> to uncertainty about whether VW could sell 100,000 units.
>
> Volkswagen says the Microbus, due out late in 2004 as a 2005 model,
> will create a new segment - "a MPV (minivan) combining striking
> design and high functionality with the comfort of a limousine".
>
> Making the announcement, Pischetsrieder said that "with the
> Microbus,
> a legend begun some 50 years ago when the first VW bus left the
> production line here is now returning to Hanover.
>
> "The VW bus was never just a means of transport, it has always been
> an emotive cult object. The public's reaction at motor shows
> combined
> with the findings of market studies already show us that the
> Microbus
> design has a spontaneous appeal, and that the vehicle will follow
> in
> the footsteps of its successful predecessor."
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dog is my copilot
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> OLTECO Ari Ollikainen, Consultant
> P.O. BOX 20088 Networking Architecture and
> Technology
> Stanford, CA Ari@OLTECO.com
> 94309-0088 415.517.3519
>
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