VW Roadster...
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chubbster
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i love the dub! i hear its gettin both the 3.2 lump and the new 2.0t! the perfect trackstar?
thats a smart dash to say the least! i doubt us punters will see it tho
and i think the Seat version of it should star in its own kiddy animation, something like Simon the Seat and chums. it has a kinda bob the builder look about it
thats a smart dash to say the least! i doubt us punters will see it tho
and i think the Seat version of it should star in its own kiddy animation, something like Simon the Seat and chums. it has a kinda bob the builder look about it
Umm.... Here's where I reveal just how much I'd been looking forward to the VW Roadster by revealling some of my research into it's history.
Bascially, the lime green Seat you see above was the first version of the concept - it was released in 2000. It got a "semi green light" (if you see what I mean) and the Seat "Tango" concept was release shortly afterwards as a near to production version. It was roofless, and had a storage tray arrangement that slide out from the rear instead of a boot. This only got a lukewarm reception (after the huge success of the original lime green car (I wish I could remember its name) and was therefore canned. If you recall, around this time, VW was just starting to get nervous about whether to keep the Seat brand and this - I'm sure weighed into their decision.
Depsite all of this, the VW sportster/roadster concept still appeared, but it was obvious to those that recognise its predecessor that it was the Seat "lime green" concept with a slightly changed bodyshell.
Shortly after canning the Seat version of the Roadster, VW reaffirmed that Seat was to be the "youth and sport" orientated brand within the group and hecne we saw the Cupras (I think they were probably around before this decisio, but at least their position was secure after it). Now, this decision didn't really play out all that well. The Seat brand has matured anyway and now it has the new Leon and "the other egg-shaped one" (what's it called?) that aren;t aligned with VW's strategic intent. This has gone so far that VW are rumored to be thinking of ditching Seat all together. Not selling it, but killing the brand off.
Now, you have to position the development of the Concept R against this backdrop. VW put the concept out there and it received such a positive response that perhaps they didn;t want to loose face by not developing it. Over the past ten years, VW have earned somewhat of a reputation for putting out various "sportster" concepts and never developing them. Perhaps this suggests a latent desire within the company to produce this sort of a car, perhaps it's just cloud gazing, but it certainly doesn't sit all that well with the overall VW direction (i.e. the mass-market with reasonably quality part of VAG).
This uncertainity regarding stragegy is outwieghed by the problems VW's facing in its corporate function. You must recall that about two months ago Porsche was stepping in to protect VW from takeover (before Porsche started its programme of buying 10% of VW, VW's shareprice was so low (in turn caused by lackluster sales on all but the Golf and the ongoing "sexcapades" investigations) that it's captial assets value exceeded its market captialisation value -- a really dangerous position for any company as that's when the asset-strippers start to get interested...)
So, in light of this, VW must want to be seen by its stockholders to be doing all the "right things" and perhaps a roadsetr doesn't fit into that picture. It does has some of the foybol(sp?) of the Pheaton about it...
Anyway, so the boardroom at VW at the moment is an uncertain place. Somewhat of a dichotomy seems to be emerging in their strategy. On the one hand - now that Preist..... (can;t recall his name) is gone, the Pheaton (his baby) has been axed. This is seen as some as a statement to the market that VW is refocusing on what it does best), yet it continues to talk about a high-end coupe based on the Passat B6 platform that will compete with the Mercedes CLS. So, VW is yet again showing evidence of indecision and muddied thinking in the boardroom -- not what you want when the auto industry is in decline, your company and its senior executires are under investigation for fraud, your Unionised German workforce is demotivated, overpaid and underproductive and you've just had to accept rescue from one of your stragic partners.
So in light of all that, the strong rumour that the Concept R will not see the light of day isn't all that hard to beleive. Bear in mind that VW have finally woken up to the effect that their quality problems are having on their brand (Last week, for example, Porsche even went as far as publically blame the rapidly decling sales of the VW-built Toureag / Camman(?) on "quality problems") and - having brought in their "quality man" from Audi about nine months ago are no delaying bringing the EOS to market until they can sort out its problems. So, maybe they just want to save money. It's crying shame really. The only positive I can think of is that the Concept R recevied an enormous welcome from the enthusiat community, whereas the Sirocco has also got people outsiede of that community talking. Perhaps it's this that VW are reacting to...
Deek.
And relax... Apols for spelling/grammar -- no time to proof read...
Bascially, the lime green Seat you see above was the first version of the concept - it was released in 2000. It got a "semi green light" (if you see what I mean) and the Seat "Tango" concept was release shortly afterwards as a near to production version. It was roofless, and had a storage tray arrangement that slide out from the rear instead of a boot. This only got a lukewarm reception (after the huge success of the original lime green car (I wish I could remember its name) and was therefore canned. If you recall, around this time, VW was just starting to get nervous about whether to keep the Seat brand and this - I'm sure weighed into their decision.
Depsite all of this, the VW sportster/roadster concept still appeared, but it was obvious to those that recognise its predecessor that it was the Seat "lime green" concept with a slightly changed bodyshell.
Shortly after canning the Seat version of the Roadster, VW reaffirmed that Seat was to be the "youth and sport" orientated brand within the group and hecne we saw the Cupras (I think they were probably around before this decisio, but at least their position was secure after it). Now, this decision didn't really play out all that well. The Seat brand has matured anyway and now it has the new Leon and "the other egg-shaped one" (what's it called?) that aren;t aligned with VW's strategic intent. This has gone so far that VW are rumored to be thinking of ditching Seat all together. Not selling it, but killing the brand off.
Now, you have to position the development of the Concept R against this backdrop. VW put the concept out there and it received such a positive response that perhaps they didn;t want to loose face by not developing it. Over the past ten years, VW have earned somewhat of a reputation for putting out various "sportster" concepts and never developing them. Perhaps this suggests a latent desire within the company to produce this sort of a car, perhaps it's just cloud gazing, but it certainly doesn't sit all that well with the overall VW direction (i.e. the mass-market with reasonably quality part of VAG).
This uncertainity regarding stragegy is outwieghed by the problems VW's facing in its corporate function. You must recall that about two months ago Porsche was stepping in to protect VW from takeover (before Porsche started its programme of buying 10% of VW, VW's shareprice was so low (in turn caused by lackluster sales on all but the Golf and the ongoing "sexcapades" investigations) that it's captial assets value exceeded its market captialisation value -- a really dangerous position for any company as that's when the asset-strippers start to get interested...)
So, in light of this, VW must want to be seen by its stockholders to be doing all the "right things" and perhaps a roadsetr doesn't fit into that picture. It does has some of the foybol(sp?) of the Pheaton about it...
Anyway, so the boardroom at VW at the moment is an uncertain place. Somewhat of a dichotomy seems to be emerging in their strategy. On the one hand - now that Preist..... (can;t recall his name) is gone, the Pheaton (his baby) has been axed. This is seen as some as a statement to the market that VW is refocusing on what it does best), yet it continues to talk about a high-end coupe based on the Passat B6 platform that will compete with the Mercedes CLS. So, VW is yet again showing evidence of indecision and muddied thinking in the boardroom -- not what you want when the auto industry is in decline, your company and its senior executires are under investigation for fraud, your Unionised German workforce is demotivated, overpaid and underproductive and you've just had to accept rescue from one of your stragic partners.
So in light of all that, the strong rumour that the Concept R will not see the light of day isn't all that hard to beleive. Bear in mind that VW have finally woken up to the effect that their quality problems are having on their brand (Last week, for example, Porsche even went as far as publically blame the rapidly decling sales of the VW-built Toureag / Camman(?) on "quality problems") and - having brought in their "quality man" from Audi about nine months ago are no delaying bringing the EOS to market until they can sort out its problems. So, maybe they just want to save money. It's crying shame really. The only positive I can think of is that the Concept R recevied an enormous welcome from the enthusiat community, whereas the Sirocco has also got people outsiede of that community talking. Perhaps it's this that VW are reacting to...
Deek.
And relax... Apols for spelling/grammar -- no time to proof read...
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Tahrey1043
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ModifiedMadness
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