Jeff Glucker absolutely LOVED his seat! Business Class – by the door! (Can get a bit drafty on long flights in an old 747 …)
Good news for a certain vociferous segment of TTAC’s readership: This coming week, you will read very little BS. On Sunday night, I will be on a flight from Tokyo to Hannover, graciously laid on by Vokswagen, and I will spend the better part of the week in Wolfsburg and Berlin, to hear the latest on MQB, to drive the Golf GTD, the Volkswagen XL-1 super saver, and to enjoy Volkswagen’s hospitality, which has come a long way since the days when hospitality consisted of slices of cold cuts between soggy buns, served on a piece of grey cardboard.
Taken from Jeff’s window at the Ritz Carlton in Wolfsburg: The “Kraftwerk” – old power plant on the other side of Volkswagen’s private port at the Mittellandkanal
This will be the first time since seven years, when I was last on the inside of Wache Sandkamp, the main gate of Volkswagen’s monstrous factory in Wolfsburg. For more than 30 years, I went, or drove through these gates, multiple times a week. Huge changes happened between 1973 and 2006, and I wonder what changes I will see on Monday afternoon and thereafter.
First Golf GTI – I was already an established copywriter when we did the launch campaign for this one. Volkswagen was convinced it would not sell more than 5,000 – and none in the U,S. . They changed that opinion after a while …
This will also be the first time I meet the creme de la blogs, from Automotive.com all the way to VWVortex, and of course our good friends at Jalopnik. In Tokyo, I usually hang out with the antisocial media from Reuters, Dow Jones, The Nikkei , and my “from the backset” driver Martin of Germany’s Handelsblatt. Let’s see how social the social guys really are – Berlin beckons! I hope they are all over 18 …
That’s Jeff Glucker’s flight back from Amsterdam. I would have staid the night in Amsterdam if I were Jeff Glucker
(The pictures are by Jeff Glucker of Hooniverse. He was with the first wave. As I type this, Jeff is on his way back to LA , with a sadly way too short stop in Amsterdam.)
Ask they how the feel about the VW brand having the highest days supply of any brand in America as of June 1 (87 days) while having 0 down, 0 due at signing, 0 payments for 30 days leases on their entire lineup.
Now, now, it’s bad manners to tell the host that his/her spouse is fat.
Jeff needs to fly some more if he loved that seat. KLM’s 744s are recognized as having some of the worst J seats in the industry. Everyone else has gone lie flat in international business class. I’ve only been in one once, and it was only IAH-LAX-IAH, but it was still an unforgettable experience (ok that it was on a 787 also made it pretty darn special). Glad I was able to experience that one time (although hopefully again sometime…saving up those miles).
haha, first time in a 747… I shared that picture and another journalist told me that the seats were older than I am.
Apparently KLM is set to revamp its business class this year starting pretty much right now through the summer…
The seat design is about 12 years old. I was a Recaro employee at the time the prototype came through Fort Worth to demo to AA. It’s about 6 design cycles old. The gooseneck light design is bizarre, weighs a ton and generates an obscene amount of heat under the seat. I was shocked to see it still in service.
@jglucker. It is a good thing you had a chance to fly on the queen of the skies. unfortunately, her days in service are numbered. the 744s are being retired quickly and the 748 hasn’t set the sales numbers on fire, so by the end of the decade, I suspect a passenger 747 will be a rare sight. It’s funny how quickly the comfort quotient in premium airline seating is going up. With lie flat becoming the norm in J, today’s business class is rivaling yesterdays F class, which is why many airlines are cutting back or eliminating F class altogether.
On most airlines, today’s J class is significantly better than F class of the late 80’s-early 90’s.
Funny, I saw a KLM plane landing in Toronto a few days ago. MD-11!! I got to thinking how old it must be, didn’t like to think about the answer.
@ect – Maybe DL will be interested in snapping those up once KLM retires them :-D. a lot of speculation now with AF-KLM having firmed up their A350 orders who’s going to be getting what to replace what. The two airlines both now have the A350s and 787s on order. All we know is that AF is getting the first A350s.
I CAMT WAIT
Well, simply enjoy it. Bring back the news.
Does this count as a byline?
can we expect more articles about how VW will take over the world because they supposedly have a “modular” platform?
Yes, definitely.
Also, they don’t have a modular platform. They have modular kits. Kits wired, platforms tired.
That is truly an appalling international business class product. Guess VW didn’t want to pop for the newer Lufthansa offerings.
Bertel: typo on “stayed” beneath picture four.
Aren’t you on VW’s payroll already?
@olds: Regretfully, I never was on the payroll of a large OEM. I must admit I worked as a consultant for this here company, until some 7 years ago. This paid so well that I can still afford editing TTAC. This was the friendly version.
The unfriendly version is: Unlike others, TTAC does not peddle paid content. Any suggestions to the contrary receive the same answer: Prove, or retract, or get fired.
Dr Olds is pardoned – this time.
On the Autobahn. B