Posted on 06/19/2015 1:35:52 PM PDT by Red Badger
Germany’s VW AG has a mixed situation in the US – on one hand its luxury stablemate Audi is thriving and posting record sales each month, while on the other hand the mass-market brand is suffering.
The company is a powerhouse in Europe, where it’s the largest automaker and thanks to China has also achieved the status of the second biggest carmaker in the world. Among the issues lie the fact that in the US the mass-market car brand VW has been sliding while the rest of the market is going up and the fact that Audi is indeed posting record after record, but is still out of the top three places in terms of annual deliveries. One of their assets in the ongoing fight could be diesel-powered vehicles – a stronghold for the brands in Europe. Let’s take for example the 2015 Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen TDI station wagon and the 2015 Audi A3 TDI sedan. They both have strong attributes: great fuel economy that doesn’t hinder a lively performance. The only drawback – gasoline engines are turning more efficient by the day and the fuel could enter a “persona non grata” situation as some US states are mulling higher taxes while some European countries are already focusing on driving diesel usage down.
The duo have almost matching prices, with entry asking quotations of $29,095 for the Golf Sportwagen TDI and $32,600 for the A3 TDI – both featuring under the hood the same powerplant. It’s a 150-hp 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder engine that also has 238 pound-feet of torque at 1,750 rpm, with the low engine speed making it almost unmatched when it comes to fast acceleration from the get go.
The re-designed Audi A3 may be as good or better than the A3 hatchback, but it is bound to fail because it is an ugly, boring looking little car. I paid $44,000 for my A3 hatchback in 20012 and would gladly pay that or more again for the new ‘Sportback’ which Audi had promised to bring back to the US in the Summer of 2015. I am, however, beginning to doubt they will bring it back. They have too many boring little redesigned A3s on their hands that no one wants and they have no way to dump that inventory.
The EPA and California have emission standards that make all the other European competitive diesels unavailable to the American market. Like Subaru
I have a Golf, drives like a sports car, looks like a FIT and overpriced.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13169153/1/audi-a3-sales-continue-to-surge-in-2015.html
...The car’s popularity has continued to surge in 2015 with sales up 262% so far this year versus the same period last year...
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2571901
...May 2015 was best month on record for the A3 and S3 sedan models with 3,035 cars sold, as well as for the A3 Cabriolet with 458 cars sold...
Alot of truth in that statement. One of the reasons Volkswagen moved much of it's manufacturing here to the US (and produces the cars it sells in the U.S. IN the United States) is the cheaper labor costs of U.S. workers vs. their German counter-parts. That move shaved @$6k from the cost of an average Passat, for example.
The PROBLEM is that Volkswagen didn't invest ANY of that savings into improved interiors or technologies like their Japanese rivals do, and Volkswagen is having reliability problems which are generating negative reviews.
Anytime I was in Brussels, Germany or Netherlands I had a Mazda or Volkswagen Turbo-Diesel. I'll tell you that there is a marked difference between the VW's made here and sold here, vs. the ones sold in Europe.
I'll take a German built Passat TDI over it's US brother any day of the week.
IIRC, Kia (Korea) hired Audi’s designer and his design influence is already being seen in new Forte which is priced much lower than the Golfs.
I was thinking of trading my 2.5L 5-cylinder Passsat for a TDI, but now I’m not sure because of reliability reviews due to EPA/CA regs...the 2.5 maybe be underpowered but it’s pretty smooth and bulletproof.
Thank ULSD.
I’d buy a Subaru Outback Diesel in a heartbeat.
It sucks to live in the United States.
I had a diesel Passat wagon in Europe for a week a few weeks ago. 6MT. It was a great car.
The US Passat and Jetta are US-market-only cars that are redesigned and de-contented vs. Euro versions to compete against Toyota, Nissan, and such.
I looked into it, really wanted one, but of course leftists have screwed that up, even though as a whole the US has more stringent air quality standards than Europe, the California standards have prevented import of the vehicle.
doubt that could be done. The cost of the diesel emissions garbage is astronomical.
And all that emissions stuff especially the SCR junk is making these cars (and trucks Chevy/Ford/Dodge) a nightmare to maintain.
I had/have two diesel trucks and a 2003 VW Jetta TDI and doubt i would ever by another diesel due to this emission garbage ... EGR in a diesel is RIDICULOUS!
They are the only ones also redesigned to fit the more stringent US pollution standards.
Same here. There was a guy in Nashville that somehow managed to import some engines and I was just about ready to buy the car and an engine from him but he ran out.
Economically foolish but somethings are matters of principal.
was cheaper than regular today
The problem is that in the US, VW isn’t seen as a premium brand. They tried to make themselves premium in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, but they really compete against Toyota and Nissan.
I have a newer Jetta and it was cheaper than a Corolla by $2k as a gently used car and a much better driver than any Corolla I have ever owned or driven. Yeah, they put cheap materials on the dash and made the rear suspension less perfect, but at 80 on the freeway or 60 on back roads it is still a joy to drive.
Just from my personal observations, the roads where I live are full of new Jettas and Passats. The bodies are solid, the engines in some models are the same as those in Audis and the prices are now competitive with other imports.
The doors on my Jetta feel solid like a German car should, even if it was made in Mexico. The steering wheel, shifter and handbrake are leather-wrapped, even if the dash is cheap plastic. ...and who fondles their dashboard?
FWIW, I just went on VW’s official site, and you can get a basic Golf TDI Sportwagen for $24,595, which is a lot less than the quoted $29k.
VW’s are too expensive. Also the only one I ever owned was a lemon, so I’m a bit biased. Don’t think I’d buy another one.
They are available in Australia.
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