Competition Cometh

[dgoodhue]

I would think that CX-3 would be competition for a XV Crosstrek.

[Gasaraki]

Yeah, so is it AWD and 300 HP? If not then it's competing with the Crosstrek maybe. The Crosstrek is a better AWD platform also.

 

[The B4]

There will be lots of cars in this segment over the next few years. I'd expect every manufacturer to play in it. It's way more profitable than the small cars these crossovers are based on, and the public's appetite for raised hatchbacks and wagons has only been increasing.

[Viber]

There will be lots of cars in this segment over the next few years. I'd expect every manufacturer to play in it. It's way more profitable than the small cars these crossovers are based on, and the public's appetite for raised hatchbacks and wagons has only been increasing.

 

I think it was VW that said recently their sales took a big hit in the USA due to the lack of a real CUV/Crossover.

 

I imagine their golf Alltrack is intended to play in this segment and strengthen their presence.

 

Subaru turning from niche to mainstream to player is certainly going to gain attention from competitors who want a piece of the action with their own CUV's and AWD vehicles.

 

This is a good thing. Competition is good for the consumer.

[dgoodhue]

I think it was VW that said recently their sales took a big hit in the USA due to the lack of a real CUV/Crossover.

 

I imagine their golf Alltrack is intended to play in this segment and strengthen their presence.

 

Subaru turning from niche to mainstream to player is certainly going to gain attention from competitors who want a piece of the action with their own CUV's and AWD vehicles.

 

My wife has a '14 VW Jetta SportWagen. Everything VW is selling is down 10-20% except the new '15 Golf/GTI. VW problems go well beyond not have a vehicle between a Touareg and Tiguan. I am sure its a market that they are missing out on, an All track Sportwagen would be an easy enough car for them to produce.

[The B4]

I think it was VW that said recently their sales took a big hit in the USA due to the lack of a real CUV/Crossover.

 

I imagine their golf Alltrack is intended to play in this segment and strengthen their presence.

 

Subaru turning from niche to mainstream to player is certainly going to gain attention from competitors who want a piece of the action with their own CUV's and AWD vehicles.

 

This is a good thing. Competition is good for the consumer.

 

Crossovers aren't VW's problem. The execution of their lineup is their problem. They still don't understand the US market. They thought cheap was what Americans wanted. It worked until everyone else redesigned their products and left VW in the cold.

 

Everyone will have an entry level crossover at some point. Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500x, Chevy Trax... there are a lot of compact and subcompact crossovers on the way.

[RyanGT]

One of the biggest issues with VW is that they don't want to take the necessary risks. They are not a market leader in the US market. They have this wait and see attitude and they lack focus or have a limited focus in their product offerings. They have the products for various segments but don't bring them to the US.

 

Now that they see that the Crosstek XV is a runaway success for Subaru, they are finally bringing the 2016 Golf Sportswagen and Sportwagen Alltrek here. They have always been afraid to step on Audi's market by not bringing over their 4Motion models.

[Gasaraki]

VW thought that by lowering prices and having bland designs would help them gain market share because people want some of that "german engineering". It did work for a year or 2 until people realized that their vehicles are craptastic. Once you get to about 70,000 miles you start having problems with sensors, etc, etc.

[Jonathan0996]

I just traded in a Jetta for a Legacy a couple weeks ago and I'm not looking back.

 

There were a couple minor but annoying issues with the VW that made me doubt the car would be aging gracefully from here on in. I don't suppose the execs at Subaru are losing any sleep over VW.