VW News: As the Diesel Emits: Volkswagen Plans On Slashing Prices In U.S. To Boost Sales

[William Maley]

It slices! It dices! No, we're not trying to sell you a set of knives. This is the best way to describe Volkswagen's strategy for the U.S.; price cuts.

 

Bloomberg reports that Volkswagen will be changing their strategy in the U.S. to become more mass-market in the U.S. This will mean a wider product range and lower prices. The hope is the strategy can reverse a downward spiral in U.S. sales that has been taking place before the diesel scandal broke.

Volkswagen for many hasn't been able to crack the U.S. market. Despite becoming the world's largest automaker in terms of sales this year and making up 10 percent of total automobile sales in Europe, Volkswagen has been a blip in the U.S. In the past ten years, Volkswagen has never gotten up to 5 percent of U.S. (At the moment, Volkswagen only makes up 1.7 percent of total U.S. auto sales). The German automaker has tried making the Jetta cheaper and making a Passat for the U.S., which hasn't gotten them anywhere. It doesn't help that Volkswagen has missed the boat with growing demand for crossovers in the U.S.

“Volkswagen is facing an uphill battle to revive the brand in the U.S. Volkswagen is struggling with the loser image of the past, and now in the present the brand is burned. They need a good story that assures people it’s really a new start. Just adding another SUV won’t do it,”  said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

We don't think going for a mass-market plan is a good idea either at the moment. But who knows, it could be the thing that saves VW.

Source: Bloomberg

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[David]

VW going cheap and mass market is a failure waiting to happen. 

Product that drives passion is what they need. Their current product line is bland, boring and overall Meh, forgettable. That is the real problem, not pricing and mass quantity.

This plan is a failure in the making. 

[ccap41]

I wonder what I could get a GLI/GTI for with said discounts.. Probably too much still.

[A Horse With No Name]

7 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I wonder what I could get a GLI/GTI for with said discounts.. Probably too much still.

They were offering zero percent and hefty discount on 2016 to get rid of them.  Or buy gently used...diesel gate has killed the resale on the gassers as well.

 

Got to say FCA becoming more of a niche marketer with Jeeps and Trucks makes infinitely more sense than VW trying to beat Toyota at their own game!

[regfootball]

resale has been terrible, all this does is get new prices closer to the wholesale / trade in market.  they can still charge the big bucks for the GTI's etc. though.

[A Horse With No Name]

On 9/5/2016 at 11:51 AM, regfootball said:

resale has been terrible, all this does is get new prices closer to the wholesale / trade in market.  they can still charge the big bucks for the GTI's etc. though.

I am to the point that there are no European cars I want to own. Volkswagen builds a few things I like, but they have pretty much shot my interest with diesel gate and some other dumb decisions, MB does not build anything interesting, I do not even like the AMG stuff, BMW quality ahs gone in the toilet, and they are no longer interesting to drive.  I have loved my MINI, but do not like the direction the brand has gone.

 

I am ready to love me some Asian and American cars, methinks.