Date:         Thu, 4 Sep 2003 08:18:54 -0400
Reply-To:     Terrence Clark <clarktp@DIRECWAY.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Terrence Clark <clarktp@DIRECWAY.COM>
Subject:      Re: Just called VW- Camper discontinued in U.S., Canada
In-Reply-To:  <20030903200654.61894.qmail@mail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

I work for the R&D unit for a large corporation.  It is very common to
be excessively tight lipped about new products.  Prior to launch, I do
not take seriously the comments of a technical or marketing person when
it comes to new products.  The van could be planned for launch tommorrow
and the same party line would be publically stated.  VW discontinued the
Vanagon in 1992, a year before the Eurovan introduction and I suspect
the same is happening here. If I were a betting man, I'd place my money
on a '05 Microbus launch.

Regards,

Terry

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Grant Braddish
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 3:07 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Just called VW- Camper discontinued in U.S., Canada

Car manufacturers are renowned for not releasing information about new
vehicles (or even mods to existing lines) until their 'official'
production.  I couldn't even find out if the following year would
feature a sunroof when I bought my Subaru in 1997!

There have been way too many articles, photos, inclinations regarding a
2005 release of the new Microbus for it to be false.

Didn't someone just see a prototype Microbus in the San Jose area?  This
sounds like more than 'still on the drawing board.'  VW.com also
features the full mock up of the van in it's 'concept car' section.  You
will note that the Beetle Dune and AAC are only artists renderings.

It doesn't surprise me that VW of NA is not prepared to discuss the new
Microbus.  They have too many T4 Eurovans to sell in the meantime.  The
specs on the Microbus are 75.2"w x 75"h x 185.5" L for those who are
wondering about the platform.  This does seem a little tight for the
current configuration of the camper but keep in mind that Westfalia will
not be providing the aftermarket conversion and the Detroit auto show
featured a pop-top version of the van.


----- Original Message -----
From: Harald Rust <harald_nancy_vw@YAHOO.COM>
Date:         Wed, 3 Sep 2003 12:31:34 -0700
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject:      Just called VW- Camper discontinued in U.S., Canada

> From http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/vw-camping/
> Shocking news. Just got through on the phone
> to VW of North America.
> This is what they said,
> VW of North America does NOT plan to continue
> selling full-size vans or camper vans
> in the U.S. and Canada after 2003.
> The new T5 VW van (which is available in Europe)
> will not be marketed in North America.
> There will be no more campers available after
> 2003 or current supplies of the EVC sell out.
> There are no plans to sell them at a
> future date either.
> On another note,
> About the so-called Microbus, it's a
> compact van, more like a mini-van type.
> VW might sell this vehicle someday in the
> future in North America, but it's still on the
> drawing board, time frame unknown.
> That's the official VW party line.
> Harald
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com

--
__________________________________________________________
Sign-up for your own personalized E-mail at Mail.com
http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup

CareerBuilder.com has over 400,000 jobs. Be smarter about your job
search
http://corp.mail.com/careers