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Originally Posted by Road & Track
Forget "Voltswagen." VW's Real Problem Is Misunderstanding the U.S. Market. VW has seemingly tried everything to crack the U.S. market—except building a segment-leading car...
The first thing to understand is that Volkswagen's best year on the U.S. market was around 50 years ago. In 1970, VW had roughly 5 percent of the U.S. market share, more than double its 2.21-percent slice of the pie in 2020, per sales tracking firm GoodCarBadCar. In 2012, VW's market share reached a recent high of 3.04 percent, before declining in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. The post-Dieselgate sales slump was real, but it was also simply a continuation of a pattern already in motion...
But by chasing our market with more-affordable offerings, VW abandoned most of the premium, Germanic quality that had long set it apart. More worryingly, the segments where VW was strongest—compact hatchbacks and small sedans—started shrinking. After a strong few years, Passat, Golf, and Jetta sales all declined. Then, Dieselgate hit, accelerating the freefall. Suddenly, the company had billions of dollars in fines to settle. In the middle of a far-reaching U.S. expansion effort, VW could no longer afford to burn cash.
The automaker leaned into more profitable efforts, like enlarging the once-compact Tiguan and launching the three-row Atlas, both vehicles aimed squarely at America's SUV-heavy tastes. Both have relatively strong sales, but neither vehicle is segment-defining. Unlike the Hyundai Palisade or Kia Telluride, there is no wait-list for VW's SUVs. They also don't represent the brand particularly well. VW, long known as the purveyor of practical people's economy cars, now makes most of its U.S. dollars on three-row utility vehicles, while striking German-built Arteons sit unsold and the bread-and-butter Golf departs the U.S. market for good...
VW has chosen to push hard into electrification. VW has introduced the ID.4, an electric crossover the company has compared to the Beetle in terms of significance. Hence, "Voltswagen."
Had you never seen the ID.4, you might find this all quite clever. Sure, abandoning decades of brand-building for an EV pun is silly, but VW must be serious about this pivot to electrification if this is, in fact, a serious rebranding. (Some still suspect it's a botched April Fools' Day joke, a theory that's not helped by messaging from VW's German headquarters that contradicts the U.S. division.)
I suspect Volkswagen—sorry, Voltswagen—is actually serious. I just don't think seriousness corresponds to competency. Because despite all of the hype, the name change, and the comparisons to the Beetle, the ID.4 seems absolutely average among all of the EVs on sale today. Its battery range is typical; it looks anonymous; it's no more affordable or compellingly equipped than the EVs that have come before it. I mean, if this is the People's EV, you can see why The People might stick with gasoline.
There's no inherent reason why we should care about the ID.4 any more than the Chevy Bolt, the Hyundai Kona EV, the Nissan Leaf, or even the Tesla Model 3. We've seen no proof of any VW tech advantage or tuning supremacy in the EV space. So when the company proclaims its own seriousness about electrification, it feels like a claim of importance through birthright...
That's the core problem with Volkswagen in America. The company is an underdog that perceives itself as an established winner. Great products come from teams that have something to prove. The Lexus LS, the Tesla Model S, the Kia Telluride—all were designed by automakers seeking to establish (or revamp) a reputation, outsiders breaking in. The only proven way to change minds is to build a product so compelling that it cannot be ignored. VW has been resting on its laurels long enough. If the company wants to win America, it has to be with a winning product. The sooner Volkswagen, or Voltswagen, or whoever, realizes that, the better.
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