What's new from Volkswagen/Audi?
By Holden Lewis • Bankrate.com

Like a TV actress breaking into movies with a nude scene, Volkswagen's plans for the upcoming year include going upscale and topless.

The upscale part of the equation includes the U.S. introduction of the Phaeton, a 12-cylinder sedan that will compete with the likes of the BMW 700 series, Mercedes-Benz S Class and Lexus 430.

Way down the price ladder, VW will introduce a convertible version of its cute-as-a-bug New Beetle. In what might be an example of odd German humor, the automaker plans to start selling the ragtop Beetles in the winter. We can hear the snickering all the way from Stuttgart.

When the New Beetle came to these shores in 1998, it caused a sensation. It was so darned cute, so roundy, with a bohemian bud vase on the dash. It was sorta sporty, fuelly thrifty, and did well in crash tests. And did we mention that it was cute?

Like a trout fishing fly, this little Bug served as a lure. Thousands of gape-mouthed car-shoppers took the bait, leapt into Volkswagen showrooms, and ended up where they didn't expect -- driving away in a Golf or Jetta or Passat.

And, of course, many of them went home in that cute little Bug. But sales of the New Beetle and of Volkswagens in general have been disappointing in the last year or so, which is why VW will introduce that smart little convertible.

The top-of-the-line Beetle Cabrio will run about $22,000. The black cloth top will come with manual and power versions. Like all Volkswagens, it will be chock-full of standard features, such as air conditioning, cruise control, four-wheel anti-lock disk brakes, side airbags and seats that can be adjusted up and down.

For wind-in-the-hair aficionados who like boxy cars, Volkswagen still offers the Cabrio, a drop-top version of its venerable Golf hatchback economy car. The Golf comes in two-door and four-door versions running from about $16,000 to $20,000. In an unusual twist for an economy car, all Golfs this model year come with CD players.

Farther up the model line are the compact Jetta and the mid-size Passat. Both come in a wide variety of versions. First you have the choice of a sedan or station wagon. Then you decide whether you want the fuel-efficient, sprightly and quiet turbodiesel (rated at 49 mpg on the highway) or a gasoline engine -- a regular four-cylinder, a turbocharged four-cylinder or the powerful, six-cylinder VR6.

At the top of the line (for right now) is the Passat W8, with a newfangled eight-cylinder engine that, in effect, fuses together two four-cylinder engines by twisting the blocks 15 degrees. The engine design allows VW to squeeze the eight-cylinder engine into a tight space. The Passat W8 boasts 270 horsepower and has a Tiptronic transmission, an automatic-manual hybrid. The price tag shows just how far VW has strayed from its roots: it approaches $40,000.

A4 Cabriolet

click image for larger view

And Volkswagen isn't stopping there. Next summer comes the Phaeton, VW's bid to play on the same fields as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Car reviewers who have driven it on the autobahn say the 12-cylinder version of the car is rock steady at 150 mph. Among the optional amenities are massaging seats, a body that lifts up and down according to the car's speed, and all-wheel drive. The price will start at $60,000 and quickly move into $80,000 territory.

Also coming next summer is the Touareg, Volkswagen's entry into the high-end sport-utility market. It will share the same platform as the Cayenne, Porsche's version of a sport-utility vehicle. Neither will be cheap.

Audi opened October by launching the A4 Cabriolet. The sporty and powerful convertible is based on the A4 sedan, an Audi standard since 1996, and offers seating and legroom for four adults.

"We really wanted to provide stunning styling, but in an open air driving environment that really encapsulates what the A4 segment represents,'' said Audi spokeswoman Jennifer Cortez.

Beneath the hood, the launch model features a 220-horsepower, three-liter engine that generates a little more than 200 horsepower and a continuously variable transmission or CVT.

The softtop convertible is fully automatic. Drivers simply push a console button until the top is up or down. The operation either way takes 24 seconds, the time it takes for a traffic light to turn red and then to green, a factor that Audi engineers considered when designing the system.

In case of a rollover, the Cabriolet has a hidden roll bar that deploys automatically. The roll bar is actually two T-shaped mechanisms that stow behind the rear seat head rests and pop up whether the top is up or down.

The base price for the three-liter model with multitronic transmission is $41,500.

-- Posted: Oct. 1, 2002

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