VW to sell new luxury car Phaeton in US in 2003

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BERLIN (AFX) - Volkswagen AG is to sell its new luxury car Phaeton in the US in 2003, management board member Robert Buechelhofer said in a Handelsblatt interview.

Buechelhofer, responsible for sales and marketing, said the state of the US market in 2003 will be "of utmost importance" because half of its sales in the luxury segment are in the US.

Turning to VW's new strategy on car models, Buechelhofer said the concentration of several brands on only a few car segments no longer makes sense.

He said VW is currently selling products in about 75 pct of the more than 30 market segments existing overall in small to luxury segments.

In five years, he said there would be more than 40 market segments and VW will be covering more than 80 pct of these.