Audi of America CEO Fired for Criticism of Poor Selling VW Phaeton

Mees said that executives in charge of the brand during the Phaeton's development, ex-CEO Ferdinand Piëch being the most

VW's brand image was and still is associated to economy and the odd entry-luxury vehicle, such as the Passat. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press)

notorious, weren't looking at all aspects of making the Phaeton a success in an increasingly competitive market. Mees added that the VW leadership was obsessed with the Phaeton's engineering, and the "need" to develop out a class leading luxury flagship for the VW brand.

"He (Piëch) wanted to prove he could build a good car. He didn't look at the marketing aspect, the brand aspect," Mees added.

"They overestimated the power of the Volkswagen brand," Mees stated. Like teaching a penguin to fly, VW's brand image was and still is associated to economy and the odd entry-luxury vehicle, such as the Passat. That said, the W8 powered Passat that pushed the brand upmarket has failed miserably, causing the automaker to pull it from production for 2005. No similar announcement for the Phaeton has been made, and none is expected especially after this week's events.

Mees also said that VW would likely shift return to its roots of building and selling high-quality, affordable cars, and then leave the luxury side of the business to the Audi brand.

"The VW model range will be gradually going down (range)," he stated. Whether

Mees was ousted from his top Audi posting for admitting to what so many VW outsiders have been saying in recent months. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press)

VW will then allow Audi to take up this slack "is too early to tell," he continued.

In the end Mees was ousted from his top Audi posting for admitting to what so many VW outsiders have been saying in recent months, but doing so by someone within the German automaker's ranks was obviously looked down upon by VW brass.

Firing the Audi CEO will without doubt cause problems within the brand's U.S. division, which won't be seen as an intelligent move by analysts. Once again, it seems that ego is driving Volkswagen AG, and in the current competitive market such actions could prove detrimental to its future success.