No wonder the car was pulled from the market last year. It appears, however, the Phaeton may make a return to the world’s largest car market. Speaking at an Automotive News conference, VW’s U.S. Chief Stefan Jacoby admitted it was a mistake to end Phaeton sales in North America. Jacoby said he still thinks the VW brand is strong enough to include models in both the volume segment and at the luxury end, hinting that the Phaeton could in fact return.
VW won’t be making the same mistakes with the successor as it did with the current model. The new model will be based on Audi’s cost-saving modular platform design strategy and is tipped to be smaller than the current car – positioned somewhere between the A6 and A8 from Audi. The next Phaeton is expected to arrive on the market in 2010, a year after the new A8.