VW May Build Cars for the Masses ... Again

Searching for way to increase sales, Volkswagen is ready to try anything -- even going back to their roots and building cars for the masses, VW managers told the Bild newspaper Friday. The strategy, which worked in Brazil where Europe's biggest auto maker sells the Fox compact, would call for cars costing €8,000 - €10,000 ($9,600 - $12,000) to be introduced in the German market. Though there are no solid plans for VW compacts in Germany yet, the company knows the higher class Phaeton model isn't selling well, and the VW group, which includes Audi, Seat and Skoda, saw sale shrink 3.7 percent in August while the rest of the German auto industry was 3.1 percent lower than August 2003. As another way of increasing profits, VW is also thinking about cutting jobs and freezing wages in Germany if management and unions aren't able to reach a compromise in labor negations next week.