Might Volkswagen Leave The "Mass" Market In The US? -- March 11, 2016

As crazy as it sounds, Volkswagen may be seriously considering abandoning the "mass" US automobile market and sell only high-end vehicles in the US. Bloomberg is reporting:

The suggestion was startling: Maybe VW should give up on selling cars to America’s masses.

It was late January, at the Detroit auto show, and Herbert Diess, the global chief of Volkswagen AG’s namesake brand, was sounding out U.S. dealers as the company grappled with the biggest crisis in its modern history.

Perhaps, Diess wondered aloud, VW should stop trying to compete with the likes of Toyota Motor Corp. in America and go back to focusing on higher-end models.

After stunned silence came anger. He and 11 other dealers are heading to company headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, next week to tell executives they fervently oppose throwing in the towel on the mass market. They want the company to stick to the commitments it has made for new models and keep U.S. prices where they are now.

Maybe Volkswagen will just leave altogether.