2009 Frankfurt: VW’s excellent North American adventure continues…

FRANKFURT – The biggest bit of excitement for Germany’s Volkswagen brand here was a piece of corporate backslapping dubbed the L1 concept.

The L1 stands for 1-litre; as in it needs only 1.38 litres of diesel per 100 km. Not exactly accurate, but this is a car show—who’s counting!

The new 1-litre concept—a follow up to the first VW 1-litre concept from seven years ago—is basically a covered tandem bicycle with four instead of two wheels.

Amazingly (and this is the “suspend your sense of belief” portion), VW said the L1 is "revolutionary yet close to production readiness" and is claiming about 2013 as a possible production date.

Puh-leeeze…

Maybe the local politicians in the crowd bought that one. But the L1’s chances of production are slim to none. And slim just got on a flight to Wolfsburg.

Also thin were VWs pickings for our market here in Frankfurt.

Despite Canadians’ penchant for sporty cars (BMW M, Mercedes AMG and Audi’s S and RS models sell a disproportionate amount of its factory hotrods here in Canada), VW Canada says the über-fun 270 hp Golf R isn’t heading our way.

Then there’s the new Polo, above.

Despite mainstream rivals like Toyota, Honda, GM, Ford and Hyundai already committed or already selling in the subcompact class, VW Canada says there are no plans to bring the Polo to Canada.

But VW had Canadian media here in Germany before the show driving Euro-spec Polos. Ostensibly, to write stories about how wonderful the car is to seed our market. Or just do the focus testing for them on the cheap. Who knows.

What I want to know is: Do you think VW is making a mistake by NOT bringing more of its European goodies over here?

Comments

[RP]

If I wanted a commuter car, the Polo would be a great option. VW is definitely making a mistake. Especially with other cars out there such as the Fit, Yaris, Accent, Swift (Suzuki) and the upcoming Chevy Spark. VW will miss out on that market since its only going to get bigger as fuel prices (inevitably) go up.

The Polo is probably the most fun to drive out of all the cars listed, with the possible exception of the Fit. The Polo is hands down the best looking of the bunch too. :(

[Bart]

you bet... VW should have more small diesels in all of the vehicles they sell.. the routan, could use a diesel I bet they would sell a bunch of them if they did not get to greedy with the price..

[Altair 4]

Good point, RP. But VW has a long history of being late to the party. When the SUV craze had just about run its course, VW brings out the T-reg, just in time for the fuel prices to rocket. When the minivan market was shrinking and manufacturers were closing out their models, THAT'S the moment VW brings out the Routan.

For whatever reason, be it poor sense of the market or ultraconservative product selection, VW just can't seem to get in front of the wave on some of the serious automotive trends.

[Frederiksen]

Makes little sense for VW not to bring the polo here. Canadians have always purchased smaller cars and the polo would be a perfect fit. Yet we seem to get lumped in with the american market of bigger and more fuel thirsty, ie Passatt CC

[Fred Cherney]

VW mistakes? YES. I drive a Jetta diesel so I appreciate VW but they need awd in the Jettas and diesels in the Eos, Tiguan and Passat. What happened to the VW diesel sports coupe seen at auto shows? Did they let Audi grab it?

[Dimwit]

Unfortunately VW lets VWoA make the product decisions for Canada and they're idiots. It's why we don't have 2 door Golfs except for the GTI, the long delay between the TDI Jetta and the Golf, the sheer lack of product.
It's sad, VW could be so much better with a Canadian focus instead of being tied to the US market forces.

[Mingo Jones]

Anytime I hear about a small car (esp a small car running on diesel) not coming over to Canada from either Europe or Japan, it boils my blood. Except this time. I am a fan of the Polo but I would rather VW focus more on bringing more trims and diesel outfits of their existing product lines then trying to bring a great small car that could fail against the Fit and Yaris because of pricing and quality. And I don't think (here in Canada) that the Polo could differentiate itself from its bigger brother the Golf. I suspect the price difference would be to little and hence buyers would neglect the Polo for a slightly bigger and more powerful Golf.