I know a person that owns a VW CC. The interior looks quite luxurious to me. My friend leased the CC and liked it so much that he purchased the car at the end of the lease.
It was so easy in the old days. My 59 bug was very basic. Now the 59 Chevy Biscayne was also basic. No chrome, small hub caps, no padding on the door panels, no carpet, plain seats, etc. Then the Bel Aire had a little more of each until you got to the Impala with carpet, padded seats and door panels, full hub caps, chrome trim, padded dash, etc. Very easy to tell which was basic and which was a step up.
We call those âpoverty capsâ these days.
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Put me in with those who never thought of VW as a premium brand.
Never has beenâŠnever will be.
As an addendum to my earlier comment, even though cars bearing the VW badge have never been thought of as âsemi-premiumâ, and probably never will be, the fact remains that VW corporate has very cleverly used the chassis and other components of their Phaeton model as the basis for a couple of Bentley models (GT, andâpossiblyâthe Flying Spur, IIRC), and also the Audi A8.
In so doing, VW is able to wring premium money from their original investment in a slightly upscale sedan.
Yes, I know that one or two Rolls-Royce models are based on the BMW 7-series, but that BMW model is already a âpremiumâ vehicle, unlike any VW.
Volkswagen has a premium brand and it is called Audi. They have a sports car brand called Porsche. Volkswagen was always the cheaper and more basic line of cars. They have always been good mechanically but electrical and electronic gremlins are quite common. I would never buy one because American, Japanese and Korean cars are simply better made and have more features (that consistently work).
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Doesnât VW also own Bentley? Now THATâS premium! 
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Both the Bentley Continental and the Phaeton use the D1 platform, while the Audi A8 uses a similar, but different platform. The transmission is the same for the A8 and the Phaeton.
I remember VW saying adding a quart of oil with every fillup was perfectly normal on the VW Rabbits. I place a premium on reliability and VW just doesnât make the cut.
My Rabbit didnât require oil except when I changed it.
Iâve never thought of VWs as either a premium or semi-premium brand. Just another car.
As for Rabbit oil consumption; many years ago the early Rabbits had some oil consumption issues due to the valve seal design but that was remedied way back when.