NB Shows Halo Effect for VW Sales

[SkyPup]

The auto business offers numerous examples of strikingly designed halo cars that quickly cooled off without giving much luster to the rest of a brand lineup. There was the Cadillac Allante, an Italian-designed two-seat convertible that General Motors introduced in the late 1980s, hoping it would inject new life into the creaking Cadillac brand. It flopped amid charges of poor quality and performance. Then there was the Subaru SVX, a futuristic sports car complete with lots or rakish glass that went on sale in the early 1990s. It was later canceled by Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru unit, which is better known for family cars.

One notable exception has been Volkswagen AG's New Beetle. Launched in 1998, the stylish update of the 1960s icon has drawn new customers to VW showrooms, and many of them are driving away in the more practical -- and more profitable -- Jetta and Passat sedans. VW's advertising and marketing efforts are focused as much on those models as on the Beetle. The result: VW's U.S. sales overall have more than doubled in two years, jumping from 137,885 in 1997 to 315,563 in 1999, and are up another 179,651 through June this year. The jump is due as much to expanded sales of the Jetta and the Passat as to the popularity of the New Beetle itself.

"We did not want the New Beetle to completely define the brand," says Volkswagen spokesman Tony Fouladpour.

 

[Dante]

I think part of this is due to the fact that VW is driven by engineers, while GM is driven by marketing. There's an interesting article that makes this comparison floating around the web. If you took another look at GM because of the Alante, you found a Malibu is neither a Camry nor an Accord. But if you took another look at VW because of the beetle, you found cars that lead their class in several respects.

------------------
Stock 2000 Golf GLS TDI
(Silver/Grey w/cold weather package)

 

[cars wanted]

HEY! I just read this story in today's Wall Street Journal, in the MarketPlace Section of the paper! Actually the thrust of this story was that Chraimler's PartTime Cruiser does not yet seem to be having this "halo" effect on the rest of the Chrysler's line-up. This is giving Chraimler's management $h!tfits!!

It seems that every one who walks into a Chrysler dealership who is looking for a PartTime Cruiser is intersted only in the Cruiser, even with the wait, and is not looking at the rest of the Chryslers. Go figure, huh!

 

[Dante]

I actually looked at a Prizm because the Toyota dealer told me they build very few Corollas with ABS and side airbags. I didn't like the ergonomics of the Prizm and the dealer tried to get me to look at a Malibu

If your other cars suck, you're not gonna get a halo effect.

------------------
Stock 2000 Golf GLS TDI
(Silver/Grey w/cold weather package)

 

[vwlarry]

"Chraimler"...I love it!

At the dealership where I work as a Service Advisor, we sell VW and Chrysler cars, as well as Toyotas, Mazdas, and this-and-that Korean effluvia. The PT Cruiser, to me, is really a head-scratcher. I just can't quite figure out who in the heck they're aiming at with these unfortunate looking mongrels. I mean, I'm a bit of an automotive historian by avocation, and I'm STILL trying to ascertain much more than a VERY slight resemblance between the Cruiser and its much-ballyhooed "model", which is supposedly (to the uninformed, anyway) the Fords of the Thirties. HUH?? A token vee'd hood, some even more token "separate" fenders, and a hunchbacked stance do not a Classic Ford make, at least in my HO. Maybe the hunched, 1937 Ford-ish rear end is slightly evocative, but how many Americans of the year 2000 are automobile-literate enough to pick up on such nebulous cues, anyway?

Plus, much press has been devoted to the great space inside the Cruiser. Hell's bells, my 2000 Golf has almost as much usable space inside as the Cruiser. For as tall as a PT Cruiser is, there is a miserable lack of headroom, which is really hard to figure out. I guess they've gone "retro" in the chassis-bits as well, with a ladder frame and torque-tube drive, maybe, so that's the reason for the tall-car-no-headroom situation, I dunno

.

With the Beetle, Volkswagen at least had a very tangible link with its own past, that helped to "legitimize" the new car, IMO. The Chraimler Kroozer is neither fish nor fowl, and is a much shorter term "faddish" sort of phenomenon, that the marketing-creatures will have a pretty tough time prolonging.

At least I HOPE so!

------------------
Larry L. Tebo
Champaign, IL. USA

 

[SkyPup]

I have to admit, we love out New Beetle TDI!

We went out and purchased it with the turbodiesel engine as soon as the NB were available in 1998. Within two weeks of driving this NB (the wife's ride) I went back to order a GOLF IV TDI for myself. After contacting every single VW dealer in the SouthEast to NO AVAIL and learning that TDI Golf's were as rare as an unscathed Manatee in Florida waterways, I purchased the first German Silver Jetta TDI I found, and that was after two months of searching.

Our TWO TDI family started with the NB TDI

Now I only wish I had a Golf TDI too!

 

[TDIsmokin]

Hey PuP!!!!
Do the easy thing. Just buy the Company.
I am sure you and Ferdinand could come to terms....
Claude
Then you could drive , passat's,polo's,A2/A3/A4/A87's....

------------------
TDIsmokin
Claude

I am an elitist. I drive a TDI!!

 

[SkyPup]

Hey Claude, your just jealous since I have the exact same Jetta TDI as you do!!! But I really wanted a Golf, it was just a Golf TDI was unobtainable.

 

[cars wanted]

By golly, I think SkyPup has stumbled upon a new element! You know how New Beetles in the U.S.A. are advertised with "turbonium"? I think that when searching for specific Golf TDIs, we are faced with large quantities of "unobtainium"!

 

[andrew]

Skypup, you do Subaru a major injustice. In the 1990's the Subaru Impreza was (and indeed still is to an extent) THE cult sports car here in Europe. A very influential motoring magazine voted it the car of the decade (by a huge margin) and it is still coveted beyond belief.

I am totally convinced that Subaru's success in the WRC and the absolute excellence of the Impreza (You really NEED a B21

), has made a huge impact on the sales of other cars.

The US market is not king when it comes to good cars: indeed it probably is last in the first world. e.g. Mitsubishi Evo VI, Audi A8 3.3 TDI, BMW 740d, need I go on

Andrew

 

[SkyPup]

Yikes, please DO NOT go on!

. I am well aware that the US mass lemming market of IQ deficent individuals driving their mindless drones around all their lives whose purchase was most heavily influenced by their 64oz Big Glup Slurpy cup holder for their fix. The only thing about the US market is that it is the biggest, NOT the best. Amen, brother!

 

[andrew]

I am glad it was you that brought up cup holder fixation. I was going to mention it but thought it might be a cultural thing or something like that. Just two questions:

1. How the hell can anyone drink a 64 oz drink?

2. Why will cup holders not hold cups (mugs would do)? I like to drink my coffee out of china, puhlease

 

[SkyPup]

Hey, it does NOT have to make any sense if it exists in America, Right? All is has to do is be idolized by the masses. My basic premise is this, if it is good for the masses, I don't want any!

 

[Dante]

I have an idea for American cars! Install a hot and cold "drink tanks" with external filler doors next to the fuel cap. Then gas stations could dispense soft, drinks, coffee, slurpees, etc. by the gallon from outside pumps! Why settle for a paltry 64 oz when you could sip from 5 gallons of Mountain Dew through a straw plugged into the dash. That way you'd have both hands free to eat, talk on the phone and/or put on make-up.

 

[Karl Roenick]

That whole area by the cup holders in the beetle would be a good place to put something else-like a real glove box, or a refrigerator!

 

[SkyPup]

Even better, they could install a small electric thermos cooler under the seat and run a drinking hose over the back of your shoulder so the driver could just suck out of the tube. I have a back pack rehydration system that straps on my back while riding long physically challenging off-road motorcycle events and it works great for me.

 

[SkyPup]

A big problem for Detroit is that most young consumers still define their automotive future in terms of imports, particularly models from Volkswagen AG and Honda Motor Co. In addition to producing sleekly designed cars that pack a real punch on the road, Volkswagen's deft advertising has helped make the brand as cool as it was in the late 1960s. In fact, Volkswagen Jetta has the highest percentage of owners ages 20 to 29 of any car in the U.S., according to a survey by J.D. Power & Associates.

In many ways, Volkswagen's success shows that capturing the fickle youth market isn't just about making cheaper cars with drink holders wider than a coffee cup. (Think, Big Gulp.) Although for sales to people like Ric Woodruff, a holding tank for a 64oz BIG GULP is a required necessity!

 

[SkyPup]

Ad: "Sunday Afternoon"
Client: Volkswagen AG
Agency: Arnold Communications

Content: Two early 20-something guys, one black and one white, drive around with a beat-up lounge chair in back of a Volkswagen Golf. In the background, an industrial rock band drones, "Daa, Daa, Daa... . There isn't much more to it than that -- which was the point. The popular ad was spoofed on both Spin City and the Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

What They Were Thinking: "We didn't wet down the roads. We didn't go film in the desert, at the abandoned gas station with the old guy sitting on the chair, and the pooch looking up and some chick comes up and the guy wipes his brow and they get in the car together," says Lance Jensen, who now runs his own Boston-based shop, Modernista. "We filmed how people really used cars. It wasn't exciting, the people didn't necessarily look cool, the car wasn't going fast... . It shouldn't have worked, but it worked for all of those reasons. It was like, 'finally, they know me.'"

 

[Ric Woodruff]

If the Newest Beetle is such a boost for all VW sales, then how come it is way down at 43 in sales, as compared to the 7th and 9th spots for Jetta and Passat respectively???

Kelley Blue Book released their list of the top 50 most popular vehicles of the 2000 and 2001 model year. The list is as follows:

1. Honda Accord

2. Ford Pickups (F Series)

3. Honda Civic

4. Chevrolet/GMC Pickups (Silverado and Sierra)

5. Chevrolet/GMC Tahoe/Yukon

6. Toyota Camry

7. Volkswagen Jetta

8. BMW 3 Series

9. Volkswagen Passat

10. Toyota Corolla

11. Ford Explorer

12. Nissan Maxima

13. Nissan Xterra

14. Toyota 4Runner

15. Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge Voyager/Caravan

16. Chrysler PT Cruiser

17. Dodge Ram Pickups

18. Ford Mustang

19. Chevrolet/GMC Blazer/Jimmy 20. Mitsubishi
Eclipse

21. Honda Odyssey

22. Toyota Tacoma

23. Nissan Pathfinder

24. Honda CR-V

25. Dodge Dakota Pickups

26. Ford Focus

27. Jeep Grand Cherokee

28. Ford Expedition

29. Volvo 70 Series

30. Dodge Durango

31. Ford Escape

32. Chevrolet/GMC S10/Sonoma

33. Nissan Frontier

34. Ford Windstar

35. Ford Taurus

36. Toyota Tundra

37. Toyota Avalon

38. Ford Ranger

39. Saturn S Series

40. Acura Integra

41. Toyota Sienna

42. Lexus IS300

43. Volkswagen New Beetle

44. Nissan Sentra

45. Audi TT

46. Mercedes-Benz E-Class

47. Pontiac Grand Am

48. BMW 5 Series

49. Jeep Cherokee

50. Jeep Wrangler

------------------
Ric Woodruff

One Damn Good Biermeister

1998 Jetta TDI Sport

 

[SkyPup]

yeah, that is the list I posted, I guess you just can't understand it though.

 

[VW Derf]

Ric,

The NB draws people into the dealership. They then realize it won't work for their family or other needs and buy a Jetta, Passat, or Golf instead. With GM and Chrysler, the issue is that people just left the dealership and looked again at otherbrands when they saw they that the "halo cars" won't work for them.

Fred

 

[Ric Woodruff]

10-4. I'm sure the "P/T Cruiser" will be the same for most buyers; too impractical. If they only made it larger, they might have a winner on their hands.

 

[TDI Envy]

Does anyone have comparable Canadian figures? I figure - just by objective evidence - that we have a much higher per capita rate of VW's. I noticed that the Golf didn't make the top 50. Pity.

------------------
2001 Golf GL, 5 speed
Indigo

SSmmmokin!

 

[SkyPup]

Sorry Ric, the title of the article on the halo effect of the VW was to inform readers that specifically the Chrysler P/T Cruiser and other similar rides DID NOT HAVE THE HALO EFFECT THAT THE NB DOES! It is unique to the NB and others have failed trying to copy that glamor.

Your idea that the PT has had a halo effect for other Chrysler sales is wrong.

 

[TDI Envy]

But there's different halo effects. Some are just marketing exercizes. Get the name of the company "out there". The NB, though being a concept car like most of these things are, was built on a great platform. The inherent goodness of the car is more than skin deep, and that can be found in VW's other cars as well. Translation: it pulls them in but the customers can walk out with a Golf or Jetta and feel just as happy.

With the P/T, the only other car is the Neon. With the Prowler, an Intrepid. 'nuff said! All or nothing.

------------------
2001 Golf GL, 5 speed
Indigo

SSmmmokin!

 

[STNK BG 1]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by vwlarry:
"Chraimler"...I love it!

At the dealership where I work as a Service Advisor, we sell VW and Chrysler cars, as well as Toyotas, Mazdas, and this-and-that Korean effluvia. The PT Cruiser, to me, is really a head-scratcher. I just can't quite figure out who in the heck they're aiming at with these unfortunate looking mongrels. I mean, I'm a bit of an automotive historian by avocation, and I'm STILL trying to ascertain much more than a VERY slight resemblance between the Cruiser and its much-ballyhooed "model", which is supposedly (to the uninformed, anyway) the Fords of the Thirties. HUH?? A token vee'd hood, some even more token "separate" fenders, and a hunchbacked stance do not a Classic Ford make, at least in my HO. Maybe the hunched, 1937 Ford-ish rear end is slightly evocative, but how many Americans of the year 2000 are automobile-literate enough to pick up on such nebulous cues, anyway?

Plus, much press has been devoted to the great space inside the Cruiser. Hell's bells, my 2000 Golf has almost as much usable space inside as the Cruiser. For as tall as a PT Cruiser is, there is a miserable lack of headroom, which is really hard to figure out. I guess they've gone "retro" in the chassis-bits as well, with a ladder frame and torque-tube drive, maybe, so that's the reason for the tall-car-no-headroom situation, I dunno

.

With the Beetle, Volkswagen at least had a very tangible link with its own past, that helped to "legitimize" the new car, IMO. The Chraimler Kroozer is neither fish nor fowl, and is a much shorter term "faddish" sort of phenomenon, that the marketing-creatures will have a pretty tough time prolonging.

At least I HOPE so!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I thought PT stood for Panel Truck. This thing looks like a '37 Hudson Panel Truck to me.

 

[cars wanted]

STNK BG 1, I don't think that the Part-Time Cruizer was meant to look like a 1930s Ford. That job is reserved for the Plymouth Prowler, which to me, at least, looks VERY much like a 1932 Ford V8 roadster that has been hot-rodded. Tis true, though, that styling cues on the Cruizer are vague, perhaps because Chraimler sees so little of its own past that is worth retro-modelling. Still, I find it neat that the Cruizer reminded you of a 1937 Hudson panel truck. I have never seen a Hudson panel truck, so I don't know for sure.
By the way, is your dealership having any problem selling all the Cruizers it can possibly get? If so, it might not matter so much to whom Chraimler aimed this car; it might matter more to study which folks are lined up to buy the things.

 

[rotorhead]

I think Chevy is missing the boat by not reprising the '55-57 body styles, especially in the station wagon / Nomad form. I think a lot of people could be pried out of their SUVs if there was a sufficiently "cool" wagon out there at the right price and at the right size (big). It would be a natural for the aftermarket tuners, or a factory special performance edition.

Have you noticed how many of the early-mid '90s Impala SS's are still out there, the ones with the LT-1 Corvette engines? I never see one ratted out, they are always pristine and freshly washed.

------------------
'00 New Beetle TDI ! Silver/Black/Lux/5spd
'98 Dodge/5.9TurboDieselCummins!(+lotsa old VW's)
reply to rotor.head@excite.com///nospam///
(remove ///nospam/// to reply)

 

[Dante]

You are right Rotorhead--people would probably even buy a "New Nomad" if it was based on the Malibu. As to the 90s Impala SS, that's the only recent GM car I have liked. Does GM even make a wagon? I guess they are giving that market to Ford along with police cruisers.

 

[cars wanted]

What a marvelous idea! It seems that GM has a similar idea in that new Chevy trucklet they are soon introducing. It reminds me of early 1950s Chevy pick-ups. The pictures I have seen of it look good.