VW Bringing Phaeton Back

It's coooomeback time!  The original VW Phaeton was introduced in high-flying days for VW, when the plan was to take the brand far upmarket beyond it's humble "People's Car" roots. Beyond bizzare brand positioning reasons (and what is Audi for again?) the move didn't play well in the United States.

To me it had more to do with the name than anything - the Phaeton had a lavish development budget and turned out to be an amazing vehicle. While sold internationally, VW quickly pulled the plug after slow sales in the United States.

Everyone assumed that was the end of the story - that the Phaeton was an expensive failure in VW's history that the company would quickly forget. In fact, many people have pointed to the car as a classic example of overreach. Now it's coming back?

I think VW might be able to make the car successful it if they do it right. If Hyundai can do it with the Genesis (and now the Equus!) than VW can as well. I think the Phaeton's problem was that it was priced too high and didn't offer enough different from the competition. That is something Hyundai is working to avoid with it's newest luxury entries. If VW realizes that, the next car could do better than anyone thinks.

This news isn't just a rumor either - the latest revelation about the Phaeton came in an interview with VW North America's CEO Stefan Jacoby in The Detroit News. His quote was "our strategy (is)....to have a lineup ending with the Phaeton (luxury sedan). We will bring the Phaeton back to the market."Will it come in the same form as it did originally - a traditional 4-door luxury sedan? We don't know the answer to that, but I suspect we will soon enough.