Okay, we get it.
The American Automobile Marketplace is a fickle dog’s mother.
The bigger our collective waistline gets, the bigger and more comfortable our cars get.
We buy SUVs that never see a dirt road because they’re big and safe and “we can see in traffic,” blah, blah, blah.
The American consumer wants performance cars, but they’d better have an automatic transmission, 500+ hp, and 20″ chromed out rims. Oh wait, that’s a muscle car… What’s a performance car?
Turbo Diesel? We’ll only buy it if it’s a 6000 lb pickup truck or delivery van, otherwise the Volkswagen TDI models are almost the only game in town (yeah sure, Mercedes, and Jeep Liberty have models too, ok…)
So, when a carmaker announces a new model, or some rad improvements on an existing model, or a special edition, we Americans – the damn originators of the modern auto assembly line and builders of one the most extensive system of paved roadways in the frickin’ world – have to wait, and hope, and pray to the Car Gods that we’ll get a chance to see, buy, and drive it. Still, we know full well that our chances are slim and that cool new model is not going to be destined for our shores.
Damnit!
I, for one, am tired of it. This least common denominator bullshit is sucking the life out of the car industry and out of my desire to be passionate about cars. And that cannot happen!
The 2016 Volkswagen Scirocco is just as good a place as any to make a stand.
It’s not a new thing, This body style was released in Europe in 2008, but VW has been steadily improving the model, adding features and options along the way.
The newest 2016 model year will offer SIX different trims, including a GT, an R-Line, and an R (in all of it’s tire-eating, late-braking glory!), all in standard or blacked-out editions. The Europeans will also get to choose from FIVE different engines! Five! The smallest gasoline engine being their BlueMotion 1.4L at 125 hp to the high-performance 2.0L TSI demon with 280 hp (approx. hp values), and still they have a range of TDI models with the detuned 2.0L TDI putting out 150 hp and the performance 2.0L TDI offering up 184 hp and tire-churning 280 ft/lbs of torque.
Lucky bastards!
Outside the car shows off some subtle differences from the 2014 model. In 2014, VW did some reshaping of the headlights and taillights, some sculpting of the rear bumper, and a general “sporting-up” of the interior with added gauges to the dash and new dials. For 2015, European drivers will enjoy the even more sculpted front and rear bumpers (borrowing design cues from the Golf GTI package), and three different wheel-size options (17, 18, 19″).
Check out the brochure here
So, here’s the thing, if we, the vocal minority of the American car enthusiast community don’t start raising a fuss, we won’t get these unique models. There’s some historical precedence here , where one automobile enthusiast/dealer introduced our entire country to some seriously iconic European brands. On the horizon from Volkswagen is a model we will likely get if only because of it’s sentimental value and it’s capacity to fill a space in the people-carrier market. The new Microbus/Vanagon concept could be a serious contender for the Family-Truckster segment, but if sales are slow, the American consumer might not see all of the cool concepts that have been floating around the auto shows for the past ten years.
If an automaker feels that a car won’t sell here, we don’t get it. I understand. It’s a question of economics, but if they don’t give us chance to prove them wrong, how will it ever happen?
So, speak up for the Scirocco, or any other model sold in Europe but not here. Who knows, it just might work!
1 Comment
Why did VW call this a “Scirocco”? It looks nothing like the original design, not even close. It’s not even the same kind of design. The original look was lower, longer, with a wider stance, at least by the eye. This design looks more like an updated Rabbit, with rounded, modern lines. It is NOT a Scirocco.