Volkswagen Phaeton may return to U.S.

Posted Thu Jan 31 2008 8:45 PM by James Martinez

The Phaeton limo may have been a major flop for Volkswagen but officials are keen to the launch of a successor. The car was priced similarly to BMWs and Audis but it wore a humble VW badge, and there was nothing particularly exciting or innovative about the car either. It had mundane styling, poor dynamics and a much heavier chassis than its Audi A8 cousin, and in the U.S. it only managed 2,814 sales since its launch back in 2003.

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.

Reader Comments

Thu Jan 31 2008 9:41 PM
HECTOR says

Say what you will but I love this car. With the exception of a couple of things - really? a foot activated e-brake in the 21st century? - this is an incredibly well constructed and handsome car, certainly a la par with the 7 series and the S class and certainly better looking than the two of them put together.

Does anyone think that VW would benefit from a *luxury brand* such as Lexus is for Toyota? Then again most would argue they already have one and it's called Audi.
Thu Jan 31 2008 10:36 PM
Gus says

Well this is a brilliant idea.
Let's bring back the Phaeton (which I agree is a stellar machine) but not eh Scirocco.

Genius on a mind-numbing scale.
Fri Feb 1 2008 3:51 AM
Alan says

I loved the Phaeton actually, it's well made, luxurious inside, understated but i think elegant styling and best of all it's not offensive or vulgar in styling or badge. However, i still don't think VW has enough badge value to challenge Mercedes and BMW, so something positioned between A6 and A8 seems to make sense. It must not be priced too ambitious though, the Phaeton was too expensive for a VW
Wed Feb 27 2008 6:34 PM
Brian McNally says

The Phaeton is everything that the best of the Mercs were before they became to vulgar to own. My '04 W12 has been returned off lease with exactly 120,000 miles on it. My current '04 W12 was purchased in anticipation of that lease-end. What went wrong with the U.S. introduction is simple. Someone obviously sabatoged it from within.Wonder who, duh.

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