Quote:
Originally Posted by chassis
You all are talking about sedans, correct?
The Touareg was outstanding, without question. Over the years it had a great variety of diesel and gas engines, and was both comfortable and sporty. A less expensive X5. Platform shared with the Cayenne so it needed to have good bones, which it did.
The current Tiguan is outstanding. Loaded up with SEL Premium R-Line is a near luxury vehicle. For a while VW included a 6 year warranty and offered full warranty with an aftermarket engine tune. Lots to like.
The Atlas has done well. Not my cup of tea, mommywagon that it is, but it sells well.
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This is just my opinion, but mainly everything in their lineup at the moment besides their halo children the GTI/GLI/R. It began with the cheapened out sedans (NMS Passat, MK6 Jetta). The last Touareg we got in the US was from the premium era of VW and a much better vehicle, although very costly (likely why it didn't sell).
The Atlas feels pretty much like an NMS Passat but in SUV form (aka bland and cheap in feeling). The Tiguan is better and a good looker, but painfully slow (takes over 9-seconds for 60, high 9's in rolling starts, before loaded with passengers), and even for those who don't care about speed it just can't get out of its own way. I also don't find it near luxury, both the Hyundai Tucson and Mazda CX-5 have much more luxurious interiors in the class.
Like the article, I believe VW just doesn't have a class-leading vehicle, or an interesting vehicle period besides the GTI/GLI/R. They don't really bring anything to the table. Even what was suppose to be what VW touts as their "revolutionary EV" the iD4, is a huge disappointment. The things VW was once known for, no longer apply (other than maybe reliability
) to most if not all of their vehicles. Even on the new GTI and iD4 they've managed to screw up the infotainment and ergonomics (once a VW strong suit), just look at the iD4's window switches and HVAC controls, its a huge mess.
I believe Mazda is doing what VW did back in the day in making premium, almost Germanic feeling and driving vehicles but with gorgeous and sleek styling and added Japanese reliability and quality. And the Koreans are producing hit after hit of value packed sedans and SUV's from the K5 to the Telluride which are easily superior to their VW competition. VW just does not appeal to me at all like it use to.