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VW Denies It Will Pull Rabbit From U.S.
HERNDON, Virginia — Volkswagen of America said it is proceeding with plans to launch the next-generation Golf hatchback in the U.S. in fall 2009, contradicting widespread reports in the European press that the German automaker planned to pull the car — sold here as the Rabbit — from the U.S. market because unfavorable exchange rates have slashed margins.
Reports in such respected European publications as Germany's Der Spiegel and Britain's Financial Times said VW likely would not sell the next-generation Golf in North America.
But VW of America spokesman Steve Keyes, contacted Tuesday by Inside Line, said in an e-mail: "We are currently planning the new Golf VI and GTI introduction for the fall of next year. The estimated volumes are already included in our 2009 financials."
Citing sources close to VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn, Der Spiegel reported that VW would not place the new Golf, which is due to make its world debut at the Paris auto show in October, on sale in the U.S. due to concerns over currency-exchange rates and the depressed state of the North American economy.
With the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the euro holding well above the $1.50 mark, VW's marketing strategists didn't see much chance of the new hatchback contributing to profitability, according to Der Spiegel.
In recent years, VW had been prepared to sell the Golf at very slim margins in the U.S. as a means of generating volume. A number of Golf/Rabbit models bound for North America, Australia and Brazil have been sourced out of VW's South African manufacturing plant as a means of offsetting the high value of the euro.
In a related move, VW is hoping its fortunes in the U.S. will be boosted by a new midsize model to go up against the likes of the Honda Civic sedan. The new car, masterminded by VW's former boss, Wolfgang Bernhard, is due out before the end of the decade and could go into a new U.S. assembly plant.
What this means to you: VW still has plenty of time to change its mind, but it's difficult to imagine how the company would explain the sudden absence of the Rabbit to U.S. loyalists. — Andreas Stahl and Paul Lienert, Correspondents
Reports in such respected European publications as Germany's Der Spiegel and Britain's Financial Times said VW likely would not sell the next-generation Golf in North America.
But VW of America spokesman Steve Keyes, contacted Tuesday by Inside Line, said in an e-mail: "We are currently planning the new Golf VI and GTI introduction for the fall of next year. The estimated volumes are already included in our 2009 financials."
Citing sources close to VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn, Der Spiegel reported that VW would not place the new Golf, which is due to make its world debut at the Paris auto show in October, on sale in the U.S. due to concerns over currency-exchange rates and the depressed state of the North American economy.
With the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the euro holding well above the $1.50 mark, VW's marketing strategists didn't see much chance of the new hatchback contributing to profitability, according to Der Spiegel.
In recent years, VW had been prepared to sell the Golf at very slim margins in the U.S. as a means of generating volume. A number of Golf/Rabbit models bound for North America, Australia and Brazil have been sourced out of VW's South African manufacturing plant as a means of offsetting the high value of the euro.
In a related move, VW is hoping its fortunes in the U.S. will be boosted by a new midsize model to go up against the likes of the Honda Civic sedan. The new car, masterminded by VW's former boss, Wolfgang Bernhard, is due out before the end of the decade and could go into a new U.S. assembly plant.
What this means to you: VW still has plenty of time to change its mind, but it's difficult to imagine how the company would explain the sudden absence of the Rabbit to U.S. loyalists. — Andreas Stahl and Paul Lienert, Correspondents
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