Sitting right on top of Volkswagen’s line up of sedans is the Phaeton, conceived by none other than Ferdinand Piëch. The full-sized luxury sedan was aimed directly at Volkswagen’s main rivals, namely BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
The company was initially supposed to update this ageing model, but due to the immense cost necessary to resolve the ongoing dieselgate fiasco, it seems that they have shelved plans indefinitely.
According to The New York Times, “Among other things, the company said the cuts would affect the update of its Phaeton luxury vehicle and the modernization of a plant in Mexico.”
Sales have been rather abysmal, as the Phaeton was retracted from the US market in 2006. The Phaeton managed to do slightly better in its home market, with a total of 19,314 Phaetons delivered in Germany alone by January 2009.
Thankfully, the Bugatti Veyron successor, tentatively called the Chiron, survived the budget cut, and will likely be shown to public at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.
Via: NY Times
