MSMLexIS

Another problem with the phaeton is the dealer VW dealers are not used to selling luxury cars so they had horrible service something luxury cars buyers are not willing to tolerate.

mmarshall

You are not the first person to misunderstand what I said. I didn't say that stereotypes DIDN'T exist....only that they SHOULD not. The fact that they DO is wrong....and that influences many people to make wrong or uninformed car buying decisions. This is not just something that I made up out of my head or grabbed out of a clear blue sky just because I wanted to get into a debate or arguement with someone. I see this over and over again...people buying ( or not buying ) certain vehicles just because of image or stereotype...and then they are sorry later and say " Marshall, I wish I hadn't fallen for that stuff ".

So...how does that bring us back to the Phaeton? Simple. Although VW's customer service is traditionally poor, the car itself was a bargain.....but VW's "image" drove a lot of potential customers away.

Gojirra99

I think it's you who you misunderstood my post. Of course I know you think it's wrong(I've always agreed with you on car stereotypes too). My point is that marketing is NOT about telling people whether it's wrong, it's more about whether you can sell as many cars as you can, have a clear strategy to overcome whatever resistance the public have for your product (including stereotypes) etc. Did VW did a good job at that ?
I was answering to your previous comment that VW's marketing is not the reason of the downfall of the Phaeton.
MacDonald's success in marketing obvious has nothing to do with whether eating a lot of fast food is wrong.

mmarshall

OK...but in MacDonald's case I don't think it is so much the food ( most of their menu is second-rate at best, although they have good fries ) as the fact that it became ( and still is ) a classic hangout for teen-agers. Even when I was in high school the gang would hang out there with Road Runners, GTO's, and Chevelle SS396's and do burnouts out of the parking lot....until the cops came by.

Gojirra99

Exactly, in McDonald's case, there are reasons people go to them other than just how good or healthy the food is. In Phaeton's case, did VW identify or created any reasons why luxury car buyers would pay that much for a VW batch car other than the content of the car ?
Successful marketing is often not just about the product itself.

mmarshall

In my opinion, yes...but I guess it means it depends on what you mean by " content " of the car. I think you and I probably both agree that the Phaeton was an excellent bargain if you were shopping for a 12-cylinder sedan.....somewhat less so for a V8 ( in the Phaeton's case a W8 ) where there was more competition. But the only real competition , IMO, for the W12 Phaeton, was the BMW 760i / iL and the Mercedes S600....and both of those cars, despite having comparable engines and features, cost substantially more than a W12 Phaeton. So...the way I see it ( and maybe we are just going to disagree somewhat on this? ) is that the public turned their nose up at an excellent deal.....and the Phaeton also did not have the confusing controls that the BMW and Mercedes did.

Incindentally, not all is not lost. The same W12 engine can be found in the new Audi A8 ( Audi's V8 is conventional ), but the Audi is not the same car.....it costs more than the Phaeton and is not as much of a " luxury " car. It is geared more towards performance as a sports sedan.