Volkswagen to drop US prices in line with Toyota
Posted by Lorenzo at 7:36 am
Volkswagen has a lot of work ahead of it if its to accomplish its lofty goal of taking the title of world's largest away from Toyota within their self-alloted timeframe of 8 years. With that in mind, Volkswagen CEO wastes no time in laying out a plan on exactly how to accomplish said goal. He has announced that Volkswagen will be dropping prices in the US to be more in line with Toyota. To put things in perspective, the Corolla and Camry costs US$15,200 and US$20,000 respectively. The Jetta and Passat, however, costs US$17,000 and US$23,900 respectively. That's an US$1,800 premium over the Corolla and US$3,900 premium over the Camry.
Of course, this does not come without a few shortfalls. That means major decontenting across the board. According to Winterkorn, US bound models have suffered from "too many added technical items that [Americans] don't want to pay for" citing the folding sideview mirrors as an example of one item they may exclude from US spec vehicles.
And, let's not forget about that plant Volkswagen wants to build on US soil. Producing locally will enable Volkswagen to eliminate importation duties and exchange rate differences.
Ultimately, Volkswagen wants to sell a million vehicles annually by 2018. Price reduction is a small step in the right direction but reliability is also a pressing issue that needs their immediate attention.
No timeframe was given as to when we can see prices go down, but considering their 2015 goal, I'd reckon very soon.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Of course, this does not come without a few shortfalls. That means major decontenting across the board. According to Winterkorn, US bound models have suffered from "too many added technical items that [Americans] don't want to pay for" citing the folding sideview mirrors as an example of one item they may exclude from US spec vehicles.
And, let's not forget about that plant Volkswagen wants to build on US soil. Producing locally will enable Volkswagen to eliminate importation duties and exchange rate differences.
Ultimately, Volkswagen wants to sell a million vehicles annually by 2018. Price reduction is a small step in the right direction but reliability is also a pressing issue that needs their immediate attention.
No timeframe was given as to when we can see prices go down, but considering their 2015 goal, I'd reckon very soon.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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