Maybe Gigli is a better film on second viewing. Maybe Vanilla Ice would have had staying power if his record company stuck by him. Maybe we just didn't drink enough New Coke. Maybe the Pontiac Aztek was ahead of its time.
At least, that's how Volkswagen sees it.
Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volkswagen's North American operations, told the Detroit News that the company's new strategy is "to have a lineup ending with the Phaeton (luxury sedan). We will bring the Phaeton back to the market."
"If you don't remember," Motor Trend reminds readers, "The Phaeton's first generation was a flop, selling only a slight portion of the automaker's prescribed goals." A super-luxury sedan with a six-figure price tag, the Phaeton was hailed by the automotive press as one of the finest cars available during its brief U.S. appearance, from 2004 through 2006. But the car barely sold, with American consumers unwilling to pay Mercedes-Benz S-Class prices for something wearing a Volkswagen badge. Many of its features, including the innovative W12 engine, have since migrated to the Audi A8. Used Phaetons, meanwhile, are sometimes available in the U.S. for the price of a new Honda Accord.
But the Phaeton lives on overseas. Autoblog reports, "Spy shots of a re-designed 2011 Phaeton emerged in June of this year." In Jacoby's recent comments, however, the executive did not "get specific about when the luxury sedan will return (or even if it will be anything like the model American consumers already shunned)."
If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.
