Volkswagen will soon be re-joining the list of European auto manufacturers manufacturing autos in the U.S. In fact, VW was the very first ferrin' automaker to set-up shop in The Land of the Free way back in 1978, with a Rabbit factory in New Stanton, Pennsylvania. And man, did they screw that one up. The nasty, unreliable crap [barely] constructed in the U.S. plant single-handedly destroyed VW's reputation for "German engineering," strangling sales and forcing the company to close-up shop, tuck its tail between its legs and head south of the border. This time 'round, the Detroit Free Press reports that VeeDub's building their new plant in North Carolina, aiming for a 2010 start-up date. Don't be surprised if the facility facilitates SUVs, like the Tiguan, or the next generation Touareg. Fortunately, there's no risk that VW will pollute a stellar reputation for well-built products, thanks to ongoing quality problems… everywhere. As the owner of a German-built GTI that's provided 18 months of mechanical headaches, here's hoping VW finally sorts it shit out, somewhere, soon.
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A more prudent strategy might be for them to build the cars in the US that that they sell the most of here. The Touareg is relatively low volume (and higher margin), so it’s not going to make as large of an impact on the bottom line.
Stefan Jacoby said the other day that he expected the price premium for a VW to drop from 10% to 5% once the US production is online.
They’re also planning engine and transmission plans in North America to supply their new assembly plant.
Are VWs still as bad? I own a 2002 Golf that’s been doing quite OK (Catalytic converter needs changing at 85,000miles and I replaced a door handle block whose electronic control failed, but beside that, it’s tight!). I thought the 1st batch of GTIs were horrible but things improved after.
Since they already have production of the Beetle and Jetta in Mexico, I guess they figure they’ll just make SUVs in the US. I think the Tiguan might do okay for them, as long as they can get the reliability problems worked out and offer it with a TDI sooner rather than later. It would seem like building Passats in the US would be a good idea as well, but what do I know. Of course, the biggest problem VW still has is its dealerships. Until they can fix that steaming pile of feces, they’ll continue to have low sales and a mediocre reputation.
The New Stanton fiasco was one reason why folks were very skeptical about Honda opening a factory in the US. The prevalent view was the problem with New Stanton (and by extension Detroit) was American workers.
Honda proved that the production process could be operated on scientific principals that quality vehicles could be built in the US, and that the Big 3’s problem and VW’s was management.
AKM:
It’s really hard to say for sure re: VW group quality. There’s the statistical evidence, which is grossly flawed in methodology (i.e. Consumer Reports surveys). And there’s the anecdotal evidence. Your story is good news for me to hear. My GTI is a 2006.5, which means it is from the very first batch of GTIs, and has been back to the dealer 5 times for check engine lights (some significant, some not) and another major issue with a cracked casing under the hood. Five unscheduled trips to the dealer in the first year of ownership? Ouch. Things have been better the past 6 months at least.
I’ve had a 94 Passat VR6, 98 A4 2.8, and 98 A4 1.8t – all were horrifically unreliable – of course I didn’t buy any of them, they were my parents and my sister’s – who like things like heated seats and trip computers.
The New Stanton fiasco was one reason why folks were very skeptical about Honda opening a factory in the US. The prevalent view was the problem with New Stanton (and by extension Detroit) was American workers.
The union in New Stanton was the problem. The workers still had been fed a 70’s era union stance and firmly believed that the union signed their paychecks. Until VW closed the plant that is.
Build quality out of the New Stanton plant may have been an issue–however I had a PA-built ’84 Rabbit GTi that served me well for 11 years…just as crippling in my mind was the way in which the PA built pre-GTi Rabbits of the early 80s were so Americanized with flabby underpinnings, pastelish colors etc. The German made VWs from just before time were not great shakes either in terms of build quality, so I don’t think it was so much a matter of American vs. German assembly competence as that of automotive taste–the translation just didn’t work well those first number of years.
I’ve seen anecdotes around the Internet for the past few days from VW lovers saying things like, “My 2007 GTI has been great – 14,500 miles and not a lick of trouble.”
What do they expect? One year and 15k miles isn’t exactly indicative of long-term reliability.
My father in law has a 2004 Passat that he loves. I am not aware of any issues that he may have had with the car, but I may have forgotten also.
While the quality of the German made rabbit’s etc was better than the made in the US variety, I can attest that it was the poor reliability of VW’s in the late 70s early 80s that killed VW reputation not the made in america factor.
my overall impression of VW based on anecdotes and otherwise is that some people get problem cars and some people do okay. not many of the cars seem honda/toyota-esquely flawless (my 01 GTI had the window regulator problem and some plastic doodad breakage — a small price to pay for how much I loved that car).
I like VW products.. it sucks that you have to worry about getting a crappy one. I’d be happy with one that just broke a little occasionally. but how bad does it have to get before lemon laws apply?