My first thought when seeing it. Don't care either way.Are you bragging?..or complaining?
My first thought when seeing it. Don't care either way.Are you bragging?..or complaining?
I disagree - they could have built the platform for Bentley and saved the marketing costs embarrassment and not bothered with the Phaeton. Managements inability to make hard choices.The Phaeton and Touareg we ways for VW to absorb the costs of the Bentley Continental and Porsche Cayenne and it was a genius move that saved both sub-brands.
The Phaeton essentially was a Bentley but with VW badges. Iirc mechanically they were identical so the hard costs weren't going to get any worse. The marketing cost probably wasn't that bad but of course there's still the problem of competing with Audi (A8?).I disagree - they could have built the platform for Bentley and saved the marketing costs embarrassment and not bothered with the Phaeton. Managements inability to make hard choices.
Maybe they shouldn't have been saved at all, same reason as @BMWTurboDzl said in post #33.
There are too many car companies, its hard to make money without economy of scale. China Subsidizes there industry. We subsidized the then "big 3" during the cold war by paying for part of them building plants all over the country so as to spread the industry out, which helped them directly produce cars more cheaply. I think we will likely see the world returning to subsidies as we deglobalize. Question will be which of their 3 do the Germans want to save?
Isn't this the exact same argument as the Atlas. Produce a new model at the absolutely lowest possible cost to VW? Possibly to work out the same?The Phaeton essentially was a Bentley but with VW badges. Iirc mechanically they were identical so the hard costs weren't going to get any worse. The marketing cost probably wasn't that bad but of course there's still the problem of competing with Audi (A8?).
Obviously just speculation, but Mercedes produces way more heavy trucks especially globally, and BMW is so much better run and plays much better with the rich get richer crowd so would be least likely to need any help. Would be tough call if the Bundesbank can only choose one.VW group is the largest employer of the Big 3. I don't think they're going anywhere
IJS the phaeton was a one off rather than a change in direction. I don't think VW is trying to position the Atlas as a Q7/Q5 alternative. Not offering hybrid option is just silly but I suspect it's just too expensive.Isn't this the exact same argument as the Atlas. Produce a new model at the absolutely lowest possible cost to VW? Possibly to work out the same?
Obviously just speculation, but Mercedes produces way more heavy trucks especially globally, and BMW is so much better run and plays much better with the rich get richer crowd so would be least likely to need any help. Would be tough call if the Bundesbank can only choose one.
Plug in hybrids have massive defects with connectors / corrosion. Also battery problems.IJS the phaeton was a one off rather than a change in direction. I don't think VW is trying to position the Atlas as a Q7/Q5 alternative. Not offering hybrid option is just silly but I suspect it's just too expensive.
Doesn't have to be a PHEV. A regular hybrid is fine.Plug in hybrids have massive defects with connectors / corrosion. Also battery problems.
Much problems with these plug in hybrids. Including almost every brand who sells a plug in hybrid that have a small battery underneath the car.
I loved our 2019 Tiguan and admired the size and looks of the Atlas. I do believe that the EA888 is inadequate for the Atlas. A hybrid version of both the Tiguan and Atlas would be beneficial.
I know 6 people with Atlas from last 4 years and not a single one complained of a windshield issue. They seem to like vehicle.I have heard of windshield issues on previous Atlas models.
Has this been resolved?
Quoting for emphasis.We own a 24’ Atlas with the EA888, 8spd and 4Motion. I wouldn’t say it’s inadequate at all. It’s not “fast” from stop light to stoplight but it’s powerful enough. In fact we rarely get it over 3k RPM in normal driving. It also does very well on the interstates at 85-90mph. It’s extremely stable and handles well at high speed. My wife has a bad habit of running 95-100mph constantly on her work commute up I-71. Luckily she’s an RN and gets “professional courtesy” from Kentuckys finest from time to time.
We’ve been very happy with the performance of ours and it averages 24.6 MPG which I think is pretty decent considering its size and often hauling a Family of 5.
I agree.Huh
Quoting for emphasis.
It always makes me curious when people says any full size family truckster is “slow.” First of all, almost all modern vehicles are pretty quick and well powered compared to what I grew up with in the 1980s. Secondly, for a car like an Atlas, the real issue is whether you can maintain a comfortable highway pace and get up to normal speeds quickly and without undo fuss. The parameters of the turbo four combined with the 8 speed suggest to me it is perfectly fine. Moreover, Who is running timed quarter miles in their family SUV? And who wants to pay for the gas to constantly feed, let’s say, a 392 hemi in the family Durango? (Love the 392 but complete overkill for almost any street application.). The car magazines and the internet have helped create a generation of armchair experts who will say this or that about any vehicle when in reality the vehicle’s performance is perfectly adequate. I am not a slow driver by any means - me and. a few friends did amateur racing for quite a number of years. But that background was useful for teaching me how uninformed a lot of the automotive press and internet commentary is. when it comes to the performance of a given vehicle. The reality is that almost any of the mass market family SUVs are well built and have performance that is more than adequate for the typical day to day task. The real issues for a family will be running costs and repairs. I suspect the Atlas suffers relative to peers like Honda and Toyota because VW has a reputation for lower reliability as compared to those two brands. Families are rightly concerned about running costs - irrespective of whether the critiques of VW is merited, that is likely the driving issue of the sales divergence.
Huh
Quoting for emphasis.
It always makes me curious when people says any full size family truckster is “slow.” First of all, almost all modern vehicles are pretty quick and well powered compared to what I grew up with in the 1980s. Secondly, for a car like an Atlas, the real issue is whether you can maintain a comfortable highway pace and get up to normal speeds quickly and without undo fuss. The parameters of the turbo four combined with the 8 speed suggest to me it is perfectly fine. Moreover, Who is running timed quarter miles in their family SUV? And who wants to pay for the gas to constantly feed, let’s say, a 392 hemi in the family Durango? (Love the 392 but complete overkill for almost any street application.). The car magazines and the internet have helped create a generation of armchair experts who will say this or that about any vehicle when in reality the vehicle’s performance is perfectly adequate. I am not a slow driver by any means - me and. a few friends did amateur racing for quite a number of years. But that background was useful for teaching me how uninformed a lot of the automotive press and internet commentary is. when it comes to the performance of a given vehicle. The reality is that almost any of the mass market family SUVs are well built and have performance that is more than adequate for the typical day to day task. The real issues for a family will be running costs and repairs. I suspect the Atlas suffers relative to peers like Honda and Toyota because VW has a reputation for lower reliability as compared to those two brands. Families are rightly concerned about running costs - irrespective of whether the critiques of VW is merited, that is likely the driving issue of the sales divergence.