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Showcases VW - From Rags To Riches To Rags To???

17 November 1998

Showcases VW - From Rags To Riches To Rags To???

    DETROIT, Nov. 16 -- As the predominant import car company of
the Fifties and Sixties, Volkswagen set the North American car market on fire
with the Beetle.
    In the Seventies, increasingly strict emission standards helped kill
the Beetle's air-cooled engine-and the Beetle itself.  But the poor quality of
VW's next-generation, water-cooled models gave the import market to the
Japanese.
    In the Eighties, lower oil prices, poor quality, and direction-less
marketing caused a collapse of Volkswagen's American market.  And by 1992,
the automaker was getting ready to pull out of the U.S. market.
    But, in its latest edition -- to be posted Monday, November 16, at
9 a.m. EST --  takes a look at what helped turn
Volkswagen around.  The Car Connection's feature report includes a rare and
intimate interview with VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech.
    VW is set to sell around 220,000 VW cars in the U.S. this year, more
than four times the number it sold five years ago.  And if Dr. Piech is right,
the numbers will top 500,000 before he retires.  Clearly the comeback company
of the year, and maybe the great car company comeback since Chrysler, VW owes
much of its success to the strong-willed chairman, and you can see what makes
him tick on .
    The report also includes an overview of the latest trio of new VW
products, the 1999 Golf, Jetta and Cabrio.
    There's more in Monday's edition of The Car Connection, including the
first Web sighting of the new Sport Activity Vehicle coming from BMW, the new
hybrid wagon, the X5 SAV.  This isn't a grainy spy shot, but the real thing --
a year ahead of production.  In addition, catch spy shots of the upcoming BMW
3-Series Coupe.
    For do-it-yourselfers, there's a guide to getting your car ready for
Winter, as well as helpful maintenance advice from On-Site Mechanic Bob Weber.
The Car Connection, , is the nation's premier
automotive "e-zine."  Turn to it for the latest news, reviews, and often-
controversial reviews.  You'll find driving tips from racing instructor Bob
Bondurant, "spy shots" of tomorrow's hottest products Caught in the Web, and
plenty of tips to help make the process of buying and leasing a car more
customer friendly.  The Car Connection also offers a timely car calendar and
the web's most expansive automotive Yellow Pages linking to auto sites all
over the world.