25th Anniversary GTI. Why not the US?

twyg

twyg

Back to Mac Baby!
If you're an enthusiast for veedubs (volkswagons) you already know about VW Vortex. You also know that they shouldn't be considered a "rumor" site VW of America (VWoA) works with them, and actually sends them cars to review. Their articles are a bit oriented to gear heads, but they've written them so that even folks who don't know all about gear ratio's and torque to pound conversion equations can get a grip on what the general jist of the figures are about

So... now you have a quick intro of what vwvortex is, on to the discussion.

25th Anniversary GTI

That's the link for the all new GTI. Sweet! you say, gee, when I get rid of my current car (or actually when I pay my current one off) I'll be on the waiting list! Whoops, what's this? it's not available here in the states (nor Canada I'm afraid.)

Why do companies do things like this? I'm just curious as to why a company would not sell in a given market. Is it cost to ship, not enough people purchasing? I just don't know about business enough to know this. Please enlighten ;) (Also they did say in the article that in the U.S. it's only the 20th anniversary of the GTI, but c'mon, that's not a solid enough reason. Just market it as the 20th anniversary.)

Your wounded comrade, twyg

Current car
hendrikgti.jpg
 
this is hard one to figure out. i know that some of the japanese car companies make quite a few models that they do not sell elsewhere. they are ussually very different designs that probably wouldn't do that well here anyway. but some of them are pretty cool.
but in this case, there isn't any radical design change, just some more fluid styling and enhanced features. it doesn't really look that differrent from your current one.
i share your confusion on this.:confused:
 
Speaking of different looks that wouldn't take off... The Lupo.
(I'd buy one, 'cause all I need is a train station car, my GTI is for weekend cruisin')

Anyway, could Americans pull their heads out of their bum about Diesel? (I would)

TDI - Smaller, better, and faster

(I don't condone animal testing by the way, and it wasn't VW doing the tests... read the article and you'll see...)
 
In Germany carprices are higher than in the rest of Europe. So I guess that it is essentialy for the German market. (I have a table with imac(computer) and vw(car) prices). There is a problem with internet at home (the server at the university is out) so for the moment you have to wait, sorry.
best wishes,
Hervé
 
Actually this sounds very much like the type of thing that Porsche has done in the past. They released a special edition 930 (911 Turbo) with a slanted nose that you couldn't get in the US for quite a few years, and even after they did make a US version, it was missing the large front air dam because it extended out even with the collapsable bumper (making the bumper useless). Any of the slant nose turbo's you see out there are either US conversion (I worked at Alan Johnson Racing where we did factory specification conversions using sheet medal parts sent to us from Stuttgart), car brought over from Europe, or the Air dam was added after the car was sold (the easiest thing to do). And Porsche did this knowing that more than 60% of their total sales are directly related to Porsche North America.

Given that the two companies have had a close history and have used many of the same tactics in the past, this does not sound that surprising to me.
 
I love my GTI. I love my 2 Golfs. I love my Cabrio. I love my G4. I love my Beetle. Love my Bus. Did you ever notice how Apple's ads look a lot like the old VW beetle ads. Heh. Think Different. I mean... think volkswagon. O MAN! did anyone ever see the iMac beetle? I wish I had a pic of it right now. CRAP!
 
i must say, i would love one of those.... i need to give myself a raise... er. work more hours...

everytime i see a GTI i drool a bit. :D
 
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