An Open Letter To Stephan Jacoby, Incoming President of Volkswagen of America

Dear. Mr. Jacoby:

Congratulations. You are now the president of Volkswagen's sales and dealer network in the world's more profitable, competitive, and lucrative car market - namely, The United States of America. I salute you.

All right, Herr Jacoby, that's it with the pleasantries. Let's get down to business right now. In case you haven't noticed, sir, Volkswagen of America has had a bit of trouble of late. After recovering from the depths of only 49,533 cars sold in 1993 by introducing the New Beetle, presenting the excellent fourth-generation models of the Golf and Jetta and selling more than 355,000 cars in 2001, VW is on a downward spiral again in the United States. Sales declined 37 percent between 2001 and 2006. While that's not nearly as disastrous as the 64 percent decline between 1971 and 1976, when VW was phasing out its aircooled models in favor of the watercooled, front-engine, front-wheel-drive cars that have been its bread and butter since the original Beetle was squashed, there's one inconvenient truth to consider. Volkswagen sold about 235,140 cars in 2006. Seems respectable, doesn't it? But you posted similar annual sales figures in the late seventies, and there are simply far more people of driving age in this country than there were when Jimmy Carter was president. Two hundred thousand automobiles sold in a given year simply represents a smaller portion of the market than it did thirty years ago.

Do I think VW is in trouble in America? No, I think the problem is exaggerated. But VW could be in trouble if you and the gang in Auburn Hills don't turn things around now. Here are a couple of suggestions you might want to consider from me, a die-hard Volkswagen fan who loves his 2000 Golf and plans to keep it as long as he can before he's ready for a new Rabbit:

Play some Polo. Volkswagen fans in America have long known about the Polo, the car below the Golf/Rabbit in the Volkswagen hierarchy. In fact, we're aware that it's a smaller, nimbler car than the Golf/Rabbit and it's perfect for city and local suburban driving. But we've never gotten it here, due to federal safety standards. At least that's VW's official excuse. But now the current Polo is actually bigger than the original Golf/Rabbit from the mid-seventies. It's been said that a car the size of a '75 Rabbit could never pass muster with the federal government today. So how come the Japanese Big Three have considerably small models, namely the Toyota Yaris, the Honda Fit, and the Nissan Versa, on sale in the States? Herr Jacoby, this is the Polo's natural market segment. No more excuses. The Polo can be brought here, and it should be. And plenty of VW fans here want it. Some of us go to Europe simply to rent it. Or at least bring something comparable from Brazil, like the Gol.

Cut the SUV crap. You want to know why the Touraeg sport utility vehicle has been a disappointment, Herr Jacoby? Because it never was a serious player in the SUV market segment. It was clearly designed as an afterthought so VW could get into a lucrative market segment it had previously ignored, albeit one that clever Detroit advertisers invented when it became obvious that they couldn't compete against the Japanese with normal everyday passenger cars. Following trends, Herr Jacoby, is not Volkswagen's place. Setting trends is VW's place. Your company brought the Beetle, a little rear-engined, noisy, basic car, to the United States at a time when people wanted big and fancy highway cruisers, and you didn't pander to market tastes. Your company let the market come to it. And did they ever. Gee whiz, VW perfected the basic small car, and it went on to set standards in front-wheel-drive technology, it invented the economy sport sedan with the GTI, and it invented fuel-injected diesel engines! And you're catering to a market segment that was concocted by snake-oil salesmen in the Motor City? Give up the Touraeg, Herr Jacoby, and give VW fans some products we might actually buy.

Hurry up with a new minivan. Volkswagen also invented the minivan with the Microbus, Herr Jacoby, but it let Chrysler turn the market segment into a lucrative business back in the eighties and let Lee Iaccoca take the credit for the very idea of a minivan. And what did VW do? Not much, if sluggish sales of the Vanagon and the EuroVan - both of which I liked, actually - are an indication. And now you have no minivan at all in the U.S. market? Sorry it was too expensive for VW to build that New Microbus concept car from the 2001 auto show circuit; that would have been great. I understand VW was collaborating with DaimlerChrysler on a new Volkswagen van for the U.S. market, but now that Daimler and Chrysler are no longer one company, what does that mean for VW? If you can still get that minivan to market here, Herr Jacoby ,do it, but make sure it's a real VW van, and not just a Dodge or Chrysler with a German accent. Make it cool-looking and fun to drive, like the Microbus was. And while you're at it, get that funky Sharan over here. I once saw a Sharan minivan parked on Park Avenue in Manhattan, and with New York state plates - even though the Sharan isn't sold in this country. Someone went out of their way to bring a Volkswagen Sharan to the United States because that person recognized the value of having such a vehicle for daily driving. The Sharan has since been redesigned. The original Sharan, which could not be sold here because it was a collaboration with Ford of Europe and Ford didn't want it competing against its Windstar minivan in the States, is no longer an issue. Plus, Ford is considering getting out of the minivan market in its own country because they just can't compete with Chrysler or the Japanese. What are you waiting for, Herr Jacoby? Bring the Sharan over now!

And bring the smaller Touran here too - that would make a great alternative to the Mazda 5.

Move Volkswagen of America back to New Jersey. When Volkswagen of America was based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, its executives - Carl Hahn, Stuart Perkins, Bill Young - were able to figure out what VW customers wanted because they were close to VW's major markets in America - namely, the Greater New York area and New England. Now you're out in Auburn Hills, Michigan. No one cares about Volkswagen out in Michigan. Moving to the Detroit area in the backyard of the Big Three may have given Volkswagen a sense of importance - especially when the reason for doing so was to be closer to the Westmoreland factory in western Pennsylvania - but you adopted a typically unimaginative and jive way of marketing your products that has more in common with General Motors than with the U.S. offices of the European car companies you once were neighbors with in Bergen County, New Jersey - or with the American divisions of the Japanese car companies out in California. Return Volkswagen of America to its roots, Herr Jacoby, and return to Englewood Cliffs, to the house that Dr. Hahn built. With the Westmoreland plant having closed - in 1988 - you have no reason to stay out in southeastern Michigan.

Have a SEAT. Since the Spanish SEAT brand, which Dr. Hahn acquired in 1990, is an entry-level brand below Volkswagen in Europe, Herr Jacoby, why not bring a couple of the smaller SEAT models to American Volkswagen dealers and aim than at young people, much like what Toyota is doing with its Scion brand? Scion has some edgy cars, and some of those SEATs look edgy in their own right. You could use SEAT to get young people to buy Volkswagens later, just as today's Scion customers are poised to become tomorrow's Toyota customers. And by the way, sir, Volkswagen lost its distinction as America's bestselling foreign car brand to Toyota in 1975 - 1975! - and has yet to regain it.

Fix the dealer network. Volkswagen used to have the best automobile dealership network in America. Now they're full of dealerships run by hacks and opportunists. Plus, the company has gone from over a thousand U.S. dealers in 1970 to just under six hundred today. And too many of them are dualed with other brands, which means some of those dealers probably aren't giving VW top priority among the brands they sell. The United States is the only country in which not all Volkswagen dealerships are exclusively VW. Time for a major overhaul here

Herr Jacoby, it's taken me an hour to type this open letter, and I could go on. I'm not tired, and I ain't proud either. I want you to listen to Volkswagen customers and fans and do whatever it takes to ensure Volkswagen's place in the American market. Because if Volkswagen ever leaves the United States, I might end up buying an Asian appliance on wheels with no character, soul, or distinction.

The idea of the American road without Volkswagens on it is simply unacceptable.