So, We could all be driving Volkswagens

[fest3er]

... The US market drives them crazy, they (the Germans) simply cannot figure us out. ...

Zat iss because dey know vat iss best for us. "Stupid Americans! Don't dey know zis iss vat dey vant?!?"

We get enough of that domestically; we don't need foreigners joining the chorus.

They'll never figure us out until they reverse their gaze vectors.

 

[RustyJC]

The redesigned Passat was a flop, they can't figure that out either.

They cheapened up the interior and chassis (aka "decontenting") and softened up the ride and handling so that it wasn't any better than the typical American or Japanese competition. People buy German cars because they want the German automotive personality to be present - it wasn't in the Passat, unfortunately. BMW seems to be heading down the same path by compromising its hard won Ultimate Driving Machine persona for softer ride, less feedback in the steering, etc. At their pricing levels, I don't think either one can compete with the Americans, Japanese or Koreans by turning their products into "me too" cars.

Rusty

 

[jhenderson]

Zay vill never win zee war, vee have the Stukas.

 

[Dl5treez]

Really like my Jetta TDI.....and I'd rather VW buy Fiat every day and twice on Sunday than some &^%$*()&(%^ Chinese holding company.