Re: Bye Bye GTI VR6

[Jamie -VWvortex <jamie@vwvortex.com>]

Maybe this will help:

Just three days ago, VWvortex attended the Media Preview at the Chicago Auto
Show. As part of the festivities, we attended a luncheon put on by the Midwest
Automobile Media Association in which the key note speaker was Dr. Jens Neuman
(VWAG Board Member in charge of Group Planning, Legal and Group Strategies).
We had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Neuman personally and interviewed Tony
Fouladpour (Public Relations Manager of VWoA) about VW's future.

Now (talking heads aside) we were able to confirm this information at this time:

1. The Golf in the U.S. is *not* dead.

2. The VR6 in the U.S. is *not* dead.

3. Release dates for the A4(MK4) platform cars are still slightly sketchy. Dr.
Neuman played this question by responding that there is the new Beetle and the
new Passat and that is the focal point for now. Tony told us to look for the
new Jetta in the last quarter of 1998 and the Golf "most likely" in the Spring
of 1999. The reason for this is simple: Golf IV's are currently 6-8 months
backordered in the rest of the world. If VWAG can't meet the demand in their
"home" markets (where demand is high), why ship it to the U.S. in extremely
limited numbers (where the hatchback market is soft). VW is building a new
plant in Brazil and has shifted production of Polo's in order to try and meet
demand for the Golf IV. Basically according to Tony, the Golf will be here in
the States when they can ship enough to successfully market and deliver the car.

4. We didn't specifically ask about the GTi. I will contact Tony on this issue
and see what we can determine. It is alive in Europe, and Tony told us that if
the market demands it, it will come.

5. The Audi 2.8 V6 is a large engine and is typically mounted longitudinally.
It is highly unlikely that this motor will be shoehorned into the new
Golf/Jetta IV. We were told that the new Jetta IV will have the VR6 motor as
well as a TDI and new 2.0 liter 4-cylinder.

6. There will be a Jetta Coupe that will be more aggressively styled than the
Coupe CJ shown last year. Apparently Ferdinand Piech didn't think the Coupe CJ
was aggressive enough. This car will here in 1999 as well.

7. There will be a "Power Beetle" model that will feature the 1.8T motor, 17"
wheels, slightly more aggressive suspension settings, and a spoiler that
raises up at speed (a la Corrado).

8. The larger Passat variants were confirmed and Tony says they are still
planning on building  a flagship Passat with the W12.

9. Look for Syncro models (in the U.S.) only in the Passat platform for now.

Dr Neuman also hinted that there will be even more new models to look forward
to. He told the motor press that VW is in a restructuring period here in the
U.S. and that things are going to change quite a bit over the next 5 years.
They have aggressive sales plans in the near future and will pursue the U.S.
market much more aggressively. He also stressed that this will happen one step
at a time and that it will be done carefully.

The information that Tony Fouladpour provided for us is the current
information at this exact time. Market changes, consumer demand, delivery
schedules, etc. could change some of this information. We will do our best to
keep track of it, and will stay in touch with Tony and our other VW contacts
to see what develops.

Hope this has been of some help. If you have any questions, e-mail me and I
will be happy to answer what I can.

- -jamie

jamie@vwvortex.com
http://www.vwvortex.com