Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:46:45 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: VW's New Chattanooga Plant
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re "VW seems never to miss an opportunity to miss
an opportunity here in the US."
Well said. !
Sseems to me they miss them all the time, as do you.
Old hippies would flock to a retro Bus.
the hgue luxo-barge - now well forgotten .......was a flop. Phataen, that
one.
I don't see Toureg's all over the place.
but yes.......the New Beetle - brilliant product through and through.
And Golfs and Rabbits - not bad.
Passat too , not bad.
I think their only product that really 'captures it' ...........the fun
aspect, the carefree feeling that VW once represented...........plus
quaility compbined with value ...........their only product that really
'gets it' is the New Beetle.
the others are 'ok.' .........and there is some pizzas ..........like you
can picture yourself hitting the snow country in an FourMotion Passat
.........but do they offer a tdi version ? .........
Nope, and that right there, is a perfect example of how they are not very
well clued in in this market.
Does VW of American even have any idea how many tdi vanagon conversions
there are ?
I will bet they do not.
And really............if people are willing to take a Syncro Westy that's
worth a good $ 20K and sink another near 15K into it doing a tdi engine
conversion, then spend whatever, another 5 to 8K or so on suspension, brakes
and wheel/tire upgrades......
yes, it would have to be expensive......
but if they offered exactly that - a modern verison of a Syncro Westy with
good ground clerance and AWD .......and with a tdi engine ......people would
buy those.
VW's great charm originally in this market is that they wree DIFFERENT.
They flouted that too. They thrived on how utterly out of the main stream
they were.
They could well do that again, work that to their advantage.
Other than the New Beetle..........and the enduring charm of the
Rabbit/Golf/Jetta series .......
they don't have much of a stand out or unique product line.
I find it interestting that the Passat, the Subaru Outback, the Audi
whatever it is - A4 Wagon perhaps ..........and Volvo ......
all have near identical sporty wagons. Same size and layout. They are all
playing follow the leader to the Subaru Outback, which nailed down and
epitomizes the genre. Nice to have one of those to offer, but ........well,
I just really value being unique and different from the mainstream. VW could
capitalize on that like they once did.
There main attributes they have to offer..........fun, a family to belong
to, value , quality .........all of those ......
just like Starbucks, they went nutty expanding and offering new products,
and now they are closing 10 % of their stores and getting back to their
roots. VW could do that if they were smart.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter T. Owsianowski" <pnoceanwesty@gmail.com>
To: "Scott Daniel - Turbovans" <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>;
<vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 3:15 PM
Subject: Re: VW's New Chattanooga Plant
> Agreed. Was checking a Honda Element today. Rubber floors, boxy,
> versatile. You could throw a mattress in there and sleep. I think
> there is even a Poptop conversion kit for those things.
> The new Beetle worked - VW seems never to miss an opportunity to miss
> an opportunity here in the US.
>
>
>
> On 7/27/08, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>> thanks for posting this link.
>> nice to see VW is the 3rd largest auto maker in the world after GM and
>> Toyota.
>> You'd never know it here, as VW is pretty small in the US market,
>> numbers-wise.
>> 231,000 cars total sold in the US in 2007 isn't very much at all.
>>
>> Well I hope they do well. Persoanlly, I just do not see any way to make
>> a
>> quality product in the US with US workers..........and often the UAW
>> Union
>> gets in .............Toyota is turning into GM .........with union
>> workers
>> in their US plants now. Quality just goes down. Toyota's are stil good,
>> but not the 'just will never die and so reliable it's boring' that they
>> once
>> were, close still, but not like they once were quite.
>>
>> I'm actually rather offended, as a consumer, that VW is hanging their
>> badge
>> on what is really a Chrysler Van.
>> You know.............they *invented* a genre ..............and they
>> should
>> stick with it !
>>
>> I figured out what a Vanagon really is - it's a 'sporty not-quite-truck'
>> ..........
>> good ground clearance, great versility .........even the boxy aspect is
>> all
>> right. Like an upright and proud all around do anything van. Whether
>> hauling people, semi-off roading, camping, or hauling stuff.........does
>> it
>> all.
>>
>> THAT is what they should make. Something that's not a 'me-too low to the
>> ground, soccer mom and grocery hauler' like this van that they will be
>> comong out with.
>> We shall see.
>> one thing for sure .........their products better get good fuel mileage !
>> why don't we start a letter campaign to VW of America explaining that
>> we're
>> not interested in a soccer mom mini-van, but we'd go nuts over a modern ,
>> and NOT too modern ( ! ) , interpretation of the Vanagon.
>> scott
>> www.turbovans.com
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Peter T. Owsianowski" <pnoceanwesty@GMAIL.COM>
>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 7:13 AM
>> Subject: VW's New Chattanooga Plant
>>
>>
>>> http://www.star-telegram.com/102/story/785205.html
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Pete
>>> '79 Westy "Aardvark"
>>> '87 Westy "Joe's Van"
>>> WWW.Busesbythebeach.com
>>
>>
>
> --
> Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
>
> Pete
> '79 Westy "Aardvark"
> '87 Westy "Joe's Van"
> WWW.Busesbythebeach.com
| 
