HKGS300

Audi- US boss has been fired.

Official reason was him not meeting his target.

However, most likely reason was his comments on VW luxury car strategy...

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...53#post1104353

THE_CEO

yeah like i said before "what an idiot!"

CEO

HKGS300

Yes, the ex- Audi US boss is an real idiot ... he is now doing a lot of damage to the VW strategy.
Eventhough he may be right, since he is employed by VW and is a senior person in the organization, he should never have said these things ...

Lexusfreak

I had a feeling the Phaeton wouldn't sell very well considering what it was up against. Georgous car & just as many toy's (if not more so) than the big players in that class......it's hard for many to justify spending that kind of coin that has VW badges on the car.

HKGS300

Well ... although I also think that VW never should have launched the VW Phaeton, due to VW market positioning, i think it will always take a long time before a brand is accepted in the higher segment.

Also the Audi A8 took a many years and different generations (100, 200, V8, A8, ...) to be accepted by the higher segment .

Don't forget that Honda also only used to sell small cars, until 10 years ago, with mixed success, and also the Infiniti is not doing that well..

Richie

He should have known that saying things like that in his position would be dangerous.

jet864

Ahh whatever the man speaks the truth and the seniors didn't like it. If he was fed up with something at Audi (maybe the bass mouth grilles? ) I commend him for standing up and saying what he believed. At least he didn't go out like a chump praising VWs biggest screw up.

James

mmarshall

The Phaeton V8, agreed, was probably a mistake..........but I'm not so sure about the V12 (or, rather , W12) version. The W12 Phaeton is a real bargain compared to the 100-120K a BMW 760iL V12 costs...made even worse with Chris Bangle design.............and the Mercedes S600, which can easily top 140K.
The 90K or so that VW asks for the Phaeton W12 is a very attractive price for those who want a German-engineered 12-cylinder.....and the Phaeton's interior, IMO beats both the BMW and Mercedes to boot.
This car has been one of the biggest automotive secrets on the market....why it has not sold better really is a good question. I think that it just has not been publicized well enough in the North American market.
VW marketing needs to run some good TV and magazine ads pointing out the value this car represents compared to its other German rivals. If it still does not sell, perhaps the car could be marketed as an Audi instead. Audi obviously has better nameplate recognition among potential luxury-car buyers than VW does.

jet864

M, that's just the point, it IS being marketed as an Audi as well. The A8 has a W12 option starting at about $120k. It's more than the VW but there's no possible way that there's room for both in the segment.

I still stick by my original statement that the Phaeton was a mistake. I liked the name too, and now they ruined it so no one else can use it

James