Drew Dowdell

you first dfelt

not sure I would have called it Golf CC over Jetta CC, but at least it's a name.

I drove the turbo. You *have* to drive it like you stole it just to keep up with traffic. I was following a new Explorer and working the shifter hard just to keep pace.

I have no idea how I'm going to get that in my driveway when Ram drops one off to test for a week.

Yes but how many of the Passat owners came from an Audi, Volvo, BMW or Benz. Many people have been down sizing in this economy and VW has really reaped a lot from the other Euro MFG. They even picked up a lot of sales from Saab too. Of that 29K I would be 3/4 were previous German or Euro car owners.

The Cherokee and Durango are in the segment that will bleed over from the trucks. It would be like putting a Pick up diesel in a Tahoe.

The Charger now would be a challange no pun intended. But for Chrysler to continue any kind of volume with that car they will need to seek MPG to meet the coming regs. The Diesel will help them if they can get people to buy it.

This is a segment that needs to be grown and if you just build them and put it out there they will fail. You have to show and teach the American public how good these new engines are and show they just why they will like them. Also you will need to show how easy it is to get fuel as many people could not even tell you where they can fill up. They are common but just not everywhere and many people see that a local station does not have it and assume it is now where close. What the public dosen't know hurts the diesel much. People in general have little clue and those who know love them so it is time to teach and re educate them.

I won't bet. I'll just ask VW for the conquest rates.

I ponder how well the [American] Public will accept them.

I will wait to see the take rate of the Cruze before I go asking for more. I think it would be a good idea but the question is how many people will be willing to pay more for them.

something around 1 in 4 Passats sold is a diesel. Jetta is approaching a similar take rate. The limitation primarily being VW's production capacity for the diesel engines.

But you leave out the some major factors.

#1 it is a German car and buyers of German cars are very open to Diesel. Keep in mind these too are the same kind of folks who still buy wagons in small numbers too not something the average American sedan buyer is open too.

#2 These are VW's and most VW buyers are open to Diesel just as they are to German cars.

The reality is the only Diesels the Americans can really sell are trucks and most Asian companies have been in and out and in and out of the Diesel market due to luke warm sales in this country.

Don't get me wrong I want a Diesel offered here and the Cruze is the pertect platform for it and then the Malibu but the Impala is down the line in my book to recieve this engine in this country.

You can put the out there but it is very difficult to get anyone interested in an American sedan to buy a diesel. GM will need to get the Cruze out and market the hell out of it to teach the public the relaities of the modern Diesel and then pray the EPA does not get FN crazy and add even more regulations to make it even more difficult to build them and sell them here.

There is what you and I want and then there is what the average buyer wants and right now there is a gap that needs to be worked on before we chuck a bunch of diesels in the Impala that end up with large rebates on them to get the dealers to off them.

By all means GM should have a stake here but lets work our way up with some proof of product in the Cruze and then Malibu before you jump into the deep end.

Passat has gone from 22k a year in sales to 117k a year and that means 29,250 TDI Passats in 2012. They can't all be previous customers.

Don't forget the Chrysler is going to be putting out diesels too. There is a 3.0 diesel V6 Grand Cherokee coming and they've promised that engine in other vehicles too. Think Charger, 300, and Durango...

Not nearly enough of an enhancement to matter.

guido

>>"the 3rd letter does nothing to tell you if it is a car, CUV, SUV, Hybrid, Truck etc."<<

No; I reject this overly-simplistic system. Rampant homogenization is draining the last shreds of soul out of automobiles.

If a person can't look at an SUV and tell it's an SUV without reading a code letter, screw 'em.

And as for more & more OEMs stuffing engine liters into vehicle 'names', screw their lack of creativity.

It's not that. It's that in discussion saying "I drive a Lincoln MKX" and then the person says "Is that the car or the SUV?" Even worse is Lincoln MKT.... "OH I loved that Lincoln Truck!"

The Infiniti G25 is a V6 boat anchor out performed by more than a few 2 liter turbos.

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I ponder how well the [American] Public will accept them.

I will wait to see the take rate of the Cruze before I go asking for more. I think it would be a good idea but the question is how many people will be willing to pay more for them.

something around 1 in 4 Passats sold is a diesel. Jetta is approaching a similar take rate. The limitation primarily being VW's production capacity for the diesel engines.

The lack of a strong design theme is what bothers me most... by leaving the silhouette basically similar to Fords they end up with the perception that they are just Fords with a fancy grille. Buick may use all the same platforms as Chevy, but there is substantially better visual differentiation between the brands.

not sure I'd call it a reboot... just the next update.

Dart - finally shipping some automatics

My guess is SRT doesn't have an engine ready for it yet. Probably a turbo in the 1.8 to 2.0 liter range.

well there is a substantial difference in size.

Can you really have a global tag line? Words mean different things in different cultures. "Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet" just doesn't play well in Saudi Arabia. Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" along with the Eminem song are so distinctly American I wonder if they would have a repulsive effect in say, France.

The only one I can think of who got away with a truly global tag line (twice) was Volkswagen with "Fahrvergnügen" and "Das Auto"

that's a keeper. what wheels came on it?

This may be just what RJion is looking for...

*boom* Wish granted!

Audi Q5 getting 3.0 TDI

While a nice idea, I doubt an Impala diesel would out gun a Passat. The Impala has a lot more heft to move around, that will hurt it in fuel economy and/or performance. Reuss already said no.

I guess my hearing is bad enough that I usually can't tell.

A wider variety would exist.

Could exist.... would? I doubt it.

You're looking at a Genesis concept...