Volkswagen to Bring Phaeton Back?

It hasn’t been long since the Phaeton was officially withdrawn from
sale in North America. Analysts pointed to poor sales; however,
according to German auto magazine Auto Bild, Volkswagen is having
second thoughts about the Phaeton.

After
being on sale for six years, the Phaeton’s sales are starting to pick
up. In its home market of Germany, over the first three months of the
year the Phaeton sold an impressive 769 units - a whopping 45.4
percentage increase over the previous year. The only other executive
vehicle to increase its sales is Mercedes’ S-Class sedan. In fact, over
the same period of time, the Phaeton outsold the BMW 7-Series. Price,
content, and rock-solid build quality are all contributors to the
Phaeton’s stronger sales.

And while half of
all Phaetons built have ended up in Germany, it sells strongly in other
markets too, including the UK, Spain, Italy and South Korea, where it
is one of the brand’s best-selling cars. Volkswagen would like to see
the Phaeton make a return to one of the most important markets for car
sales, which is right here in the US, with speculation that it could arrive as early as this
coming winter. Whether or not the current generation car arrives, one
thing is fairly certain - a Phaeton will be sold here once again. The
next generation model is scheduled to arrive by 2011.

Incidentally,
Dr. Martin Winterkorn, chairman of Volkswagen AG suggests that the
Phaeton is on a normal development path in the high-end luxury segment,
saying that the first generation BMW 7-Series and Audi A8 didn’t catch
on right away either. Hopefully, for the Phaeton’s sake, this statement
will also hold true…