Phaeton Volkswagen Phaeton Facelift (Spy shots & info)

[Bartek S.]

The Volkswagen Phaeton may not have gotten much love in the States, but V-Dub's range-topping saloon has soldiered on in Europe, undergoing a series of minor tweaks since its introduction earlier this decade. For 2011, the Phaeton is finally due for a comprehensive facelift, and these newest spy shots show a new fascia is in the works.
(autoblog)

 

[Centurion]

So they are not going to let it die?

 

[ree]

Great to see…still like this VW!!

 

[coolraoul]

Honestly, why bother?
I have nothing against the Phaeton, it's a very nice car, but even without a Passat grille it still will look like a Passat.

And obviously, people don't want a VW at that price.

It's a waste of money to FL it imo.

 

[VroomVroom]

http://www.fastestcar.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/2010-volkswagen-phaeton-2.jpg




And theres the new face

 

[Centurion]

Honestly, why bother?
I have nothing against the Phaeton, it's a very nice car, but even without a Passat grille it still will look like a Passat.

And it feels like a Passat on the inside too. Quality and luxury feel is quite an arm's lenght behind the A8, S-Class and 7-Series. So the car is in no-mans land really. Too expensive for a VW and a bit too lacking in quality to be a true alternative to a Mercedes or even an Audi.

 

[Merc1]

Honestly, why bother?
I have nothing against the Phaeton, it's a very nice car, but even without a Passat grille it still will look like a Passat.

And obviously, people don't want a VW at that price.

It's a waste of money to FL it imo.

My thoughts exactly. I like the car too, but it simpy has the wrong badge on it.


M

 

[///K]

That new VW front is SO pretty

 

[ateekt]

I've seen them around a while ago, they're a bit old! Imo, the next Pheaton will be an all-new car!

 

[SCOTT27]

VW are unveiling the face-lifted Phaeton at the Beijing Motor Show.
VW Said to Target Wealthy Chinese With Phaeton Revamp (Update2) - BusinessWeek

 

[Shining Star]

http://www.leftlanenews.com/vw-phaeton-2011.html

 

[Shining Star]

 

[klier]

First impression: the pre-facelift was more striking.

But why another facelift...isn't the car very old???

 

[Merc1]

I hear they're going to do the same thing with the Passat too, just another facelift. They money must be getting tight at VW.

M

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

I hear they're going to do the same thing with the Passat too, just another facelift. They money must be getting tight at VW.

M

I guess their buying spree led to this.

With the Phaeton, I can somewhat understand re-skinning, since they want this investment to be paid off. Also, I think the Passat's platform is still pretty new so there's no need to make a new platform. But the Jetta/Bora's platform is derived previous gen (I think), and the next one is a re-skin as well...I find that odd.

 

[Monster]

Is this car doing well in China?

 

[Mr. M]

Honestly, why bother?
I have nothing against the Phaeton, it's a very nice car, but even without a Passat grille it still will look like a Passat.

And obviously, people don't want a VW at that price.

It's a waste of money to FL it imo.

And it feels like a Passat on the inside too. Quality and luxury feel is quite an arm's lenght behind the A8, S-Class and 7-Series. So the car is in no-mans land really. Too expensive for a VW and a bit too lacking in quality to be a true alternative to a Mercedes or even an Audi.

You guys aren't acknowledging the fact that the Phaeton is actually doing extremely well in China. Of all worldwide Phaeton sales China is by far the biggest market, taking nearly a quarter of all orders. VW is a well-respected and established brand in the Chinese market, with BMW/Audi/Mercedes being relatively newcomers. They will pay for a big luxury saloon from VW - hence VW sees the potential in investing in a facelifted version.

I think nobody quite expected China to be the country to save the Phaeton when nobody else in the world really wanted to buy this car. For me, I only hope to see it going and not deteriorate its standards in order to cater to the mass market.

 

[Centurion]

I hear they're going to do the same thing with the Passat too, just another facelift. They money must be getting tight at VW.

M

Or they are just holding to their money tightly.

VW sold 4,500 Phaetons last year and 1,400 or them in China. The volume is simply pathetic and short of expectations, but on the flip side the sister car, the Continental GT, has been a majestic success.

The days for the Phaeton are numbered and today's sales figures don't warrant the development of a successor. VAG have probably already broken even and are just keeping the car around for the small clientel of people who wants it. Sure the sales in China aren't making the company rich but the car is acting as an important halo car for the brand, especially when opinion leading millionaire's drive it in China.

It's sort of like the iPod classic: Outdated and unwated but nevertheless ties customers to the brand.

 

[VroomVroom]

Oh no..

It's a Lexus!!

 

[Merc1]

You guys aren't acknowledging the fact that the Phaeton is actually doing extremely well in China. Of all worldwide Phaeton sales China is by far the biggest market, taking nearly a quarter of all orders. VW is a well-respected and established brand in the Chinese market, with BMW/Audi/Mercedes being relatively newcomers. They will pay for a big luxury saloon from VW - hence VW sees the potential in investing in a facelifted version.

I think nobody quite expected China to be the country to save the Phaeton when nobody else in the world really wanted to buy this car. For me, I only hope to see it going and not deteriorate its standards in order to cater to the mass market.

I'd hardly call 1500 cars (if the numbers in the above post are correct) a success, and worldwide the car is a flop. Brilliant car, wrong badge. I doubt they'll be a totally new one, the numbers just don't make a good business case, hence this extreme facelift. The A8 is all new, the VW is not. They'll facelift it for minimal expense and then sell it for as long as it makes financial sense IMO. If they do engineer a totally new one, it will be extremely A8 based. The car simply doesn't make sense and VW needs to just quit it and get back to delivering on the basics. Fun to drive, well built German cars for a little bit more than their Japanese, American and Korean competitors.


M