No.

The engine was in a B5 chassis Passat. That Passat went from being the bigger Jetta to the cheaper audi A4 (actually between the A4 and A6 in size)

I thought the same thing

For comparison Ford’s range topping 4.6 made 390 horsepower, was likely cheaper, and the timing bits looks like this to work on:

I don’t think women are an untapped market. I think its more likely that only 20% of women have any interest in owning a motorcycle at all.

Wow

“Normally my gut would say to go with either the Mercedes E63 wagon or the Audi RS6. But as capable as those wagons are, they both feel like big cars. I would have you consider the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Turbo."

Hmm, statistics time:

Okay but am I the only person who thinks this sounds like insurance fraud?

“Dadrock”? “Not culturally relevant since the mid-90's”?

I can’t speak for all manufacturers, but, franchise agreements in the U.S. are generally written such that they are essentially “in perpetuity” as long as the dealer meets the minimum criteria for facility, sales, service, and customer satisfaction.

I’m referring to OEMs appetite. They are very invested in keeping the franchise system going, as it benefits them greatly. Plus, OEMs have a contractual relationship that would cost untold billions to change.

Dude. I don’t want to argue but, like, are you from 1996 (edt: shit, up to like 2004?)? Cause that’s what it used to be like.

One thing industry outsiders need to also understand is dealers operate under a franchise agreement with the manufacturer.

The “direct sale only” argument reminds me of the “a la carte cable” argument; they want what they want, reality be damned. Direct sales is great in theory, until the manufacturer you want to buy from decides your area isn’t cost-effective enough to serve.

I’ve said it dozens of times already, but Jalopnik keeps making me say it:

1 & 2: not really. Not in comparison to ICE vehicles.

Toyota has been late to all-electric for reasons that I can’t totally discern,

So just two steps to replace them though?

I owned a W8 Passat for about six months. Granted, it was an automatic.