https://www.topgear.com/car-news/business/volkswagen-group-planning-halve-number-models-it-makes
Some articles state that the Jetta is among the models that will be eliminated.
The Jetta has been around for almost 50 years. Moving on from it isn’t too surprising. I wonder if they would eliminate any of the marques, like SEAT, Cupra or Skoda. That alone would go a long way towards their goal of halving the number of models offered. I doubt that they would mess much with premium models.
One article stated that the Porsche Taycan could be next on the chopping block. Meanwhile, VW is planning on bringing more Chinese-made EVs to the European marketplace, so it would appear that the Taycan’s price point is problematic, rather than the source of its motive power.
Pricing and the ev Macan and cayenne are now available. Usa sales of Taycan are less than half what they were.
VW doesn’t offer anything here that I would seriously consider buying new
But we on this website probably do more research upfront before buying, versus the average shopper
Most people I know buy automobiles emotionally, not rationally
Yup. And that’s where the troubles start.
A guy just walked onto the lot to look around and found a new Jeep Wagoneer he just had to have. The price was $70,000. Trouble is he was at $30,000 negative equity on his current Jeep. So the sales and finance guys did their “magic” and financed $100K for him. Now he owes $100K on a $70K car that took $15K depreciation when he drove it off the lot.
He’s having trouble with the new Jeep and it’s been in the service department for 2 months. He wants a buyback, and will get it, but can he afford it? That $30K negative equity has to come back from somewhere.
So he can get the buyback for his faulty Wagoneer, but it’s going to cost him $30K and leave him with no car and no way to afford another one. Hmm.
My takeaway?
Don’t buy a Jeep. Any of them. 
I know MANY people that found themselves in very similar situations, when it came to car “ownership”
I put that in parentheses, because at the end of the day, they didn’t ever own a car outright, but just kept digging themselves into an ever deeper hole
In all of those cases, the eventual outcome was bankruptcy and ruined credit
And they all wanted us to feel sorry for this entirely preventable predicament
Financial stupidity tends to end badly
I bought a Regal in 1998. I had to cross the street to their Chevy dealer to do the financial transaction. I sat with a guy that just bought a new, loaded Silverado to replace his old on that he still owed a boat load on. He added the remainder of his old loan to the new one. He sat there wringing his hands and wondering how he was going to afford the new truck. I just listened, wondering why he needed a loaded truck.
We’ve been buying our vehicles with cash for decades. It’s not that difficult to do. Now that we’re older I can basically buy almost any vehicle want with cash.
When we were young and needed a new car - we bought the vehicles that met our needs. Took out a 4year loan and kept the vehicles for 8-10 years. During the last 5+ years of ownership we kept making payments into a special savings account. When we needed a new vehicle, we had the money in the bank. While we were working (both retired now), we kept putting money into that savings account.
It’s not how much you make, but how you spend it.
The key is to
. Keep your vehicles a long as you can. We averaged over 300k miles on each vehicle.
. Buy reliable vehicles with a trusted track record.
. Buy within your budget. Most of my vehicles were very plain basic models. But they met my needs. My wife’s vehicles usually had more features.
I totally agree with that strategy
Most bottom-level vehicles are sufficiently well-equipped nowadays to satisfy many buyers
Even subcompacts seem to have automatic climate control standard now, for example
I assume the $30k does not have to be paid at once. Presumably, the “buyback” will pay the original MSRP toward the existing loan, and the remaining balance will have to be paid over time. The real question is whether or not this person can continue making the payments on the Wagoneer, which are likely over $1000 per month, while ALSO paying for another source of transportation. If not, default and charge-off may be the outcome. For $30k, the lender is likely to file a lawsuit, which might drive the customer into bankruptcy (pun intended).
This idea of rolling over negative equity into a new loan never made sense to me, although I would never finance a vehicle anyways. If a person owes more than the car is worth, they should either keep it and continue driving it, or if it no longer runs and the owner can’t afford repairs, they should default and deal with the consequences later.
NOBODY currently offers anything here that I would want to own, much less buy new. I would say that the 2006-2010 Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent were likely the newest vehicles offered here with features that I would find acceptable. The upcoming Slate pickup looks promising, with its basic interior and absence of subscription features and remote-communication features.
There are vehicles that you would actually like if you had a more open mind. For the price and warranty the current Hyundai Venue could meet your needs.
I believe it’s safe to say @bcohen2010 represents only an extremely small part of the car buying public
Like Mike, all of my car purchases have been cash transactions. Because my father urged me to drive his car for my first few years of work, I was able to save enough to pay cash for my first car, and I have been able to continue that practice for all of the subsequent cars. If I was lucky enough to be buying when 0% financing was offered, I would go that route, but I’ve never been that lucky.
Why wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it just be an unsecured loan at that point? I don’t know what happens on the finance side of things, I just work on whether or not a buyback or replacement vehicle is appropriate or not.
The way I see it, the customer has an issue with the car that warrants a buyback. He has to surrender the vehicle to the manufacturer and will be reimbursed the purchase price including tax, license, dealer fees, etc., minus a pro-rated offset for miles accrued (the useful life of a car is considered 120,000 miles). He turns in the car, gets his $70K (minus mileage) back, but who holds the title? Finance company won’t release it without the loan being paid, who pays them?
This wouldn’t be the first time a customer asked for a buyback but then found out he couldn’t afford it.
asemaster hit the nail on the head …
The vehicle is the collateral on the Finance Company’s auto loan and it’s extremely unlikely that they will release their Lien without full repayment.
Likewise, Jeep will be extremely unlikely to repurchase the vehicle without a Clean Title (no Liens) because then they’ll be stuck holding a vehicle that will be difficult to resell, donate or even dispose of at a Recycler.
The end result will be that the Borrower will have to come up with the difference between the Buyback and the current Loan Balance either in cash or as a new “No Collateral” (high interest rate) loan before this matter is closed.
BTW since I know that some of you are sticklers for accuracy, in some States there is a process to allow the disposal by the current holder of an encumbered vehicle via a Mechanics Lien or as an Abandoned Vehicle. Besides being a PITA for the current holder of the collateral (Jeep), it would trigger an immediate loan default by the Borrower.
As you can imagine Lenders take a very dim view of Borrowers who dispose of their collateral without their prior assent.
Sadly, unless the Jeep guy has enough disposal income to absorb (take out a personal loan) the $30K, plus make payments for another vehicle loan, he/she will probably just have to file bankruptcy and start all over, since it is doubtful this person will learn their lesson from this and probably other bad vehicle purchases, and just go buy what they can afford… imho
BTW, I think (but it will never happen, other than bankruptcy) the loan company should be made to absorb at least part of the $30K for being greedy/dumb enough to make the loan in the 1st place… I mean if you “can’t” borrow more on your home than it is worth, why was this even an option… 
rhetorical question/statement lol
“I’m not referring to 2nd and 3rd type mortgages/loans…”
It is highly unlikely that this person would be able to come up with $30k as a lump sum payment, and if the lender refuses to cooperate, the most probable outcome will be default, followed by bankruptcy. If this vehicle is so unreliable that the manufacturer will buy it back, it is unlikely that the lender could auction it for anything close to the buyback price. I have never financed a vehicle, but I remember dealing with the loss mitigation department at Citibank and Discover (regarding my credit cards) when I fell on hard times (during the Great Recession). Citibank was very flexible, willing to waive interest and lower the payments to avoid default. Discover wouldn’t budge, and I ultimately defaulted on all my debts and declared bankruptcy after a successful lawsuit from Discover. So playing hardball didn’t help them in the end. Had they cooperated, they’d have ultimately been repaid.