VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie

15.09.03, 12:44
VW Isn’t Counting Phaeton Profit
A better image, rather than better profits, is VW’s goal.
by Paul A. Eisenstein (2003-09-15)

To hear Volkswagen officials describe it, their Glaserne Manufaktur, or
Transparent Factory, is “the most modern manufacturing plant in the world.”
If so, it may also be one of the least efficient, at least among mass
automakers.

But that’s no surprise. The striking, glass-walled facility, in the reborn
city of Dresden, Germany, was designed to produce VW’s first true luxury car.
Dubbed Phaeton, it may be the most expensive product the automaker has ever
built, but don’t expect it to produce a profit anytime soon. The Phaeton has
far more to do with image — and ego — than immediate earnings.

Redefining the “people’s car”

Both The Phaeton and the Transparent Factory were put into motion by former
VW CEO Ferdinand Piech, heir to the Porsche family fortune and a man
determined to put his company on a par with his German rivals, BMW and
Mercedes-Benz. During Piech’s tenure, VW acquired an array of high-line
nameplates, including Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti. Piech seemed equally
intent on redefining the Volkswagen brand, despite its humble roots as
the “people’s car.”

The Phaeton is the cornerstone of that effort. Already on sale in Europe and
scheduled to reach the U.S. market before year’s end, the lavishly-equipped
sedan takes aim at the likes of the Mercedes S430. It’s loaded with premium
features, from the handcrafted wood and leather-covered interior to the
electronic suspension system. VW even developed a new 12-cylinder engine for
the car, at 420-horsepower the most powerful the automaker has ever marketed
under its flagship brand name.

Exactly how much the Phaeton project is costing the company is unclear. VW
isn’t talking numbers that are blurred, anyway, since many of the Phaeton’s
costs are shared with other Volkswagen Group products. The basic block of the
Phaeton’s W-12, for one thing, is shared with the new Bentley Continental
GT’s 12-cylinder engine. But industry observers would be surprised if the
Phaeton cost much less than $350 million to $500 million to develop. The
Glass Factory itself required an additional investment of $186 million.

Glassed in

The facility is located a few kilometers from Dresden’s old center, which was
flattened by Allied bombers in World War II, and is only now being rebuilt.
In contrast to the minutely detailed baroque castles and cathedrals, the
Phaeton plant is a simple yet striking display of circles and sharp angles.

Much of the work on a new Phaeton is actually done outside the Transparent
Factory. The bodies are stamped, welded, assembled, painted, then shipped to
Dresden from a body shop 100 miles away. Suppliers pre-assemble a number of
modular components and those are delivered to the Transparent Factory on a
special rail car from a handling depot five miles out of town.

Using suppliers to pre-assemble a vehicle helps hold down costs, suggests the
factory’s CEO, Manfred Saake, who declares the Dresden operation, “The most
modern manufacturing (operations) in the world.” But the Transparent Factory
itself isn’t likely to win any awards for efficiency.

It actually handles only the final assembly process, 250 workers currently
producing 30 to 40 cars a day on two shifts. That’s barely half what a single
line at VW’s home plant in Wolfsburg will produce in an hour. In fact, the
Transparent Factory operates more like the craft-style Bentley plant in
Crewe, England, than a conventional auto assembly line. Each worker spends as
much as a half hour on a vehicle, carrying out up to 100 different tasks
before the car moves on to the next station.

Deco line

With its walls of glass, Canadian maple floors and manufacturing equipment
that could fit in a modern-day remake of Fritz Lang’s classic Metropolis, the
Transparent Factory is as much a work of art as an assembly line.

“It is not a factory in the traditional sense,” suggests VW’s Doreen
Kretzschmar. “It looks more like a sitting room.”

That was done, in part, to satisfy the citizens of Dresden, who didn’t want a
traditional assembly plant in the midst of their newly restored city. But the
Transparent Factory was also done to get the message out that Phaeton isn’t
just the same old working man’s VW that most folks remember.

If the Phaeton is designed to go one-up against the Mercedes S-Class, VW has
also benchmarked DaimlerChrysler’s even more exclusive, Maybach brand, where
prices start at $310,000. A potential Phaeton customer can come to Dresden to
spec out their vehicle. Off in one corner of the facility, they can handle
the various woods, leathers, and paints available for the Phaeton. There’s a
sophisticated virtual reality system that will show the car with the
customer’s choices. You can even get your picture taken to see what you’ll
look like standing by your new Phaeton.

Customers are welcome to come to Dresden to watch their car being put
together. And, when it’s ready, to visit the Transparent Factory to take it
home. The most visible landmark is what looks like an oversized glass silo.
As each car is finished, its automatically shuttled off to the tower, either
for shipment to a dealer or to be picked up by a buyer.

Currently, about 300 people a day visit the Transparent Factory, a number
that includes roughly 60 percent of Phaeton buyers.

Lagging behind

So far, though, the Phaeton’s overall sales have been lagging more optimistic
forecasts — while living down to the expectations of VW’s many skeptics.
While the goal is to move 7000 to 8000 this year, sales totaled just 2100
through the end of June. With the U.S. market, VW had hoped to reach volumes
of 15,000 Phaetons in 2005, and perhaps 20,000 by 2005.

“I know a lot of you have doubts about what we’re doing building a luxury
car,” concedes Frank Maguire, vice president of sales and marketing for
Volkswagen of America.

Indeed, VW’s attempt to put in place a so-called “step-up” strategy hasn’t
gone very well. Two years ago, it launched a version of the then-top-line
Passat powered by an unusual W-8 engine. Buyers yawned. The jury is still out
on the new Touareg sport-utility vehicle, which is priced roughly halfway
between the Passat and the Phaeton.

Jens Neumann, VW board member in charge of North American operations, remains
upbeat, if cautiously so. It is likely to be a “long journey” transforming
the image of Volkswagen, he admits, but the company already showed that’s
possible by driving up the perception of its Audi brand. Once considered
lesser transportation, Audi’s new A8 is also an S-Class competitor.

“The only thing some people think is wrong with (Phaeton) is the VW badge,”
Neumann asserts. “We will build this brand up the way we built up Audi.”

Internecine warfare

But that’s another problem for the Volkswagen Group, differentiating the
Phaeton-era VW from its sibling Audi division. What the company can’t afford
is to simply divide up its existing Audi buyer base between two brands.

Company officials argue that the two brands have very different customer
psychographics. With the Phaeton, VW will go after its traditional niche,
independent buyers who don’t need a fancy nameplate to validate their
existence.

Audi buyers could have an incentive to switch, though. Despite having as much
content as a top-line Mercedes S600, the P
    • Gość: lexus Re: VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie IP: *.trzebinia.net 15.09.03, 12:57
      Może właśnie dlatego,że jak sama nazwa wskazuje "people's car" ? mimo wszystkich jego zalet pozostanie VW z tą tylko różnicą,że nie są to pieniądze dla "people's car"
      • x-darekk-x Re: VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie 15.09.03, 13:05
        no oczywiscie. ja w ogole nie rozumiem celowosci rozciagania marki vw na obszar
        zarezerwowany dla audi. uwazam, ze touareg powinien miec cztery kolka na
        atrapie chlodnicy, a phaeton w ogole nie powinien sie ukazywac, bo tez i po co.
        • Gość: Edek Re: VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie IP: *.dip.t-dialin.net 15.09.03, 13:35
          Prawie kazda firma samochodowa ma w zanadrzu samochow wysokiej klasy.Fiat ma Maseratti i Alfe,Audi A8 i Lamborgini,BMW - Rollsa itd.VW nie jest inny niz inne firmy.Niech sie ucza cos ciekawszego produkowac niz Golf czy Passat...
          • x-darekk-x Re: VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie 15.09.03, 13:43
            sluchaj, ale jak sam zauwazyles, te inne firmy zazwyczaj nie rozciagaja do
            niemozliwosci zakresu rynkowego dla swojej marki podstawowej, tylko nisze
            pokrywaja innymi dedykowanymi markami. od tego vw ma audi. tak samo jak fiat ma
            masera, toyota lexa, gm caddy'ego a ford lincolna i jaga...
            • Gość: Jan Re: VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie IP: *.dip.t-dialin.net 15.09.03, 14:54
              Masz racje.VW sprzedaje 5 mln.aut podstawowych i 200 Phaetonow.Chyba to normalne??
    • greenblack Re: VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie 15.09.03, 13:07
      Całkowicie bezsnesowny koncept. Samochód może i niezły, z wyjątkiem hamulców,
      ale ludzie kupujący takie samochody nie chcą mieć Ludowozu. Przedni
      napęd+ręczna skrzynia - to brzmi jak obelga. Jakąkowiek sprzedaż ratują
      instytucje państwowe w Niemczech.


      Pozdrawiam
      • x-darekk-x Re: VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie 15.09.03, 14:03
        wlasnie zauwazylem, ze kawalek artykulu ucielo.

        dalej bylo o tym, ze beda chcieli zejsc z cena o 30.000usd ponizej odpowiednich
        mercedesow.
        • greenblack Re: VW ostro sie przejachal na Phaetonie 15.09.03, 14:26
          x-darekk-x napisał:

          > wlasnie zauwazylem, ze kawalek artykulu ucielo.
          >
          > dalej bylo o tym, ze beda chcieli zejsc z cena o 30.000usd ponizej
          odpowiednich
          >
          > mercedesow.

          Chwileczkę. Dzisiaj: Phaeton 4.2 kosztuje 392 tys., a S430 4Matic 419 tys. To
          by oznaczało, że Paheton 4.2 musiałby kosztować 300 tys., a to już cena A6 4.2.
          S350 343 tys., a Paheton 3.2 303 tys., czyli powinien kosztować 220 tys. raczej
          nierealne te kwoty.


          Pozdrawiam


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