Volkswagen CEO Pischetsrieder Says Phaeton Styling was a Mistake

Was It Just Styling or Was the Phaeton a Mistake Altogether?

One of the nicest new entries in the luxury car segment this year is Volkswagen's new Phaeton. Of course, with a base

Add up the Phaeton's standard features and its base price of $64,600 seems almost reasonable, but that doesn't mean it's an easy sell. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, American Auto Press)

price of $64,600 that stretches out to $79,100, not including much more expensive $79,900 W12 model that pushes $95K when fully loaded, there haven't been a lot of takers.

To the common layperson VW's lack of success in the high-flying luxo market doesn't come as a surprise. Rather, most consumers who are unaware that the German economy car brand is now purveying luxury are aghast that its first entry is priced almost $10,000 more than the equivalent Lexus LS 430. Add up the Phaeton's standard features and it becomes more apparent why its price is so high, but that doesn't help the car get noticed.

With its nondescript styling in mind, British monthly magazine CAR reported in its August issue that Volkswagen AG Chief

Volkswagen CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder has blamed the Phaeton's lackluster sales on its indistinctive styling, a decision made by the marketing department to make the car more conventional than the original Concept D prototype which featured a sloping hatch-like rear quarter design. (Photo: Volkswagen AG)

Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder believes his company's previous management made a mistake when it designed the car as a sedan.

"The Phaeton fails to sell because it is not distinctive enough," stated Pischetsrieder in his interview with the magazine, continuing that the following generation may in fact be a combination estate car and coupe.

"It will definitely not be a normal saloon," added Pischetsrieder, making mention that originally in concept form the designers and engineers had conceived it to include a much more sloping rear end design, as in the original Concept D. "But the marketing people said the luxury buyers would insist on a saloon. That was a mistake."