had a brochure though Friday...all very upmarket like in a book format.....can't say I'd want to spend 60k on a veedub though

 

I'd bet quite a few prospective Bentley Continental GT buyers will be thinking that too, with

 

You would have to be mad or stupid to pay

 

It's the same for the Touareg -

 

not totally true as the Touareg starts at 28k.

 

Yeah, for velour seats a cassette player and 1.4tdi

 

Mercedes ML starts at

 

Beauty and beholders and all that, to me the Toureg is 1000% more chic than a smelly old ML Merc. I hate that thing.

Touareg says - modern, functional, cool, not interested in brand.

ML say - Merc, love my Lacoste t-shirt and Ping cap.

But for even more value, Volvo XC90.

 

Actually, the Phaeton is a very up market car, although I agree with the comment that it's 'still a VW'.

I toured the factory in Dresden, Germany, and what they are trying to do is sell you an experience. You can go & design your car (all very hi-tech), visit the Opera & sites of the City (arranged by VW), and then come back some weeks later to watch your car being assembled. Then it is handed over to you in a space-age arena with huge sliding doors & a lift. I guess they fill it with smoke, & it appears as if by magic!

There are some very nice gadgets on the car, & I was told that owners get some sort of 'special' treatment when it is serviced (e.g. ability to get it picked up from an airport car park etc.) and all sorts of other 'added extras' to make you feel a special customer. Of course, some of this may be for German / European owners - I have no idea how UK / RHD models are treated.

The whole experience looks like it was designed by Marketing folk. The concept is good, the car is good, but it still carries the VW badge.

I think they will have trouble convincing the target audience that a VW is a serious, luxury car. IMHO, I think they would have been better off dropping the VW name, & using Phaeton as the make rather than the model.

I actually liked it, but it's up against some tough competition.

 

it looks good and I will keep the bumpf as who knows it might even be collectable one day