VW prepares to sizzle

VOLKSWAGEN Group Australia wants to inject more excitement into its range with a rollout of new R-branded performance models, including a sizzling – but still to be confirmed – R36 version of its new Tiguan compact SUV.

With the Tiguan fresh off the boat with a diesel engine only, and talk of a 12-to-18-month waiting list for upcoming petrol versions, Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) managing director Jutta Dierks told GoAuto last week that she had a strategy in mind to keep the new SUV in demand.

Ms Dierks said that the way to keep buyers interested after the initial wave of interest was to offer alternatives that target the emotions of buyers. One such model is an as-yet-unscheduled Tiguan R36.

“There is no plan to bring (an R36 Tiguan) in, but I do think it’s a definite possibility,” she said. “It is a car that would be a perfect fit for us – it would be really nice.”

Ms Dierks (left) added that other Tiguan model variants are already homologated and would probably arrive first. The ‘Track and Field’ 28-degree approach angle Tiguan – a name that will not be used in Australia – and a front-wheel drive Tiguan are both under consideration, depending on how strong demand remains for existing models.

“Usually you do this later in the lifecycle,” she said. “As long as we grow and grow, there is no need to bring these in. If we want to grow it further, and production capacity has grown and cars are available, we can make a decision to bring these in.” Ms Dierks said that 2010 was a likely introduction date, but as these variants have already been approved for Australia “if a lot of people say ‘we want it’, we can act very quickly”.

According to Ms Dierks, VGA has already discovered that R-rated Volkswagens work well to freshen up an existing model line, including Volkswagen’s bete noir (in terms of sales figures, at least), the Touareg.

“Later in the lifecycle of the car, coming with an R version would give us emotion – look at the Touareg R50. People talk about it and want it. Close to 20 per cent at the moment (of Touareg sales) are for the R50.”

Waiting for such a vehicle does not appear to bother buyers, either. Ms Dierks said that “it is an individually built car we advise them that they have to wait, that we will keep them informed”.

The Passat R36 is about to be released to dealers this month and has attracted a lot of interest, according to Ms Dierks.

“We had a customer night at the Brisbane launch (in March). We thought R36 was a niche car. We invited customers – we thought we’d get 80 and we got 180. They were really seriously interested people who knew more about the cars than some of my guys on the stand.”

Volkswagen wants to inject more emotion into Jetta

VOLKSWAGEN Australia managing director Jutta Dierks has admitted that the Golf-based Jetta small-medium sedan is not selling as well as the company had expected, and that the reason is because it does not have a distinctive appeal.

“Jetta is getting a bit tough,” Ms Dierks told GoAuto last week. “We don’t have an R-line model we don’t have an R36 or something for Jetta. We are just looking for more emotion around that car. It’s really a workhorse – it delivers everything – but it lack a bit of emotion.”

Other than an R-line, VW is investigating a range of possibilities to make the Jetta more appealing, including a wagon variant.

“We are still talking about (bringing a wagon version in),” she said. “That could be a chance to give it a bit more emotion.”

The Jetta was introduced as a replacement for the slow-selling Bora in February 2006 and, while a much better seller than its predecessor – Ms Dierks described the Bora’s sales performance as “embarrassing” at the Jetta’s launch – the new model has not set the charts alight.

It managed 339 sales a month in 2007, and to the end of April this year was recording only 192 sales a month.

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