Date:         Wed, 13 Apr 1994 19:40:07 -0600 (CDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         dunham@mpd.tandem.com (Jerry Dunham)
Subject:      Re: Sportsvans: the saga continues ...

]From vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu  Wed Apr 13 19:30:32 1994
]From: William Warburton <william@festival.ed.ac.uk>
]
]
] Jerry Dunham writes:
]
]> I see no evidence that VWs are currently being built
]> to last any longer than Toyotas and Hondas.
]
] Maybe not, but who wants to drive a Honda/Toyota when you could have a VW?

My wife.  And I have to admit that I'd take our Honda dealer over our VW
dealer ANY day.  If Honda made a Vanagon-like van, I'd switch tonight!

] It seems to me that VW have *really* screwed up in the US! The QC and dealer
]problems must be *huge*!

Bingo!

] If the US-built vans are better and cheaper than the Eurovan then VW should
]probably just give up on selling it in the US- IMHO it's the best vehicle of
]its size available in Europe (My parents agree- they've bought two for their
]business) and that size is correct for the European market. If this isn't the
]case in the US, and they can't undercut the competition on price (seems very
]unlikely) then they can't expect to sell the thing!

The U.S. vans are not necessarily better than the VWs.  Certainly they're
not better for EVERYONE's needs.  But the PERCEPTION that they are better
is so nearly universal that the EuroVan is finding extremely few buyers.

-- 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Jerry Dunham, MSE          hoosier@rider.cactus.org           (512)244-8598
Tandem Computers, Inc.                                dunham@mpd.tandem.com
Integrity Systems Division                          dunham_jerry@tandem.com

  "A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one-and-a-half times his
   own weight in other people's patience."

			        - J. Updike