The Reason Volkswagen Failed In The United States

Rory Sutherland tells why Volkswagen failed to sell their cars in the United States and who invented the horsepower.

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[nevmo]

The VW Bus failed in the United States because it was subjected to a 25% tariff under Lyndon B. Johnson to appease the auto unions in 1964.

[janofb]

VW actually rented a house in Malibu and sent some of their engineers to live there. They had to drive in California stop and go traffic to get to their office. They finally realized that cars in the USA weren't so much about driving (at 5 mph stop and go traffic), but more about comfort while you were crawling. In Germany, you focus on actually driving the car so it was all about driving experience and feedback. In the US you couldn't get that driving in stop and go traffic so you needed cup holders and other "stuck in traffic" amenities.

[therizinosaurus]

understanding your customer base is a big part of sales

[jayjack]

95% of the time, I use cup holders for storing tissues, things I don't want in my pockets, and things I need to grab real easily or quickly like sunglasses. They're convenient and easily reached without having to open anything...cup holders, they're not just for holding cups

[utkarsharyan]

That's pretty similar to what Apple did with iPod. When the first iPod was prototyped, jobs realised that people don't care whether it had 5 GB storage or 10 GB.
So, they came up with the "1000 songs in your pocket" tagline. None of marketing materials for iPods ever mentioned storage in GBs. They just mentioned how many songs you can carry.

They employ similar marketing tactics to this day. None of the iPhones marketing ever says it has 3000 or 5000 WH of battery, they only mention the number of hours you can get. So it's always 20 hours of use or 22 hours of use in a charge, not a single mention of battery capacity.

[TRzest]

Interesting that James Watt defined engines in horsepower and gave the unit of electrical power his name, the Watt.

[runswithfish]

I remember some American auto executive saying a long time ago that studies show that American car buyers say what they want is cupholders, not safer cars. I immediately thought, maybe that's because people just assume that the car is safe because they don't wreck it every day, but they do drink in it every day, so they know they need a cupholder.

[jockellis]

BMW polled its car owners on what performance options they would like. Cup holders was #1.

[EireTV]

This man is uttery fascinating the way he observes business life and things happening around him in modern culture and puts his unique slant on it....I could listen to him for hours. He is made for YouTube.

[MLB]

"Horsepower sells cars, but torque wins races." - Carol Shelby

[mimung]

As a German, i usually don't use the cupholder. Over years i asked myself why you need to have cupholders in a car. I drink my coffee at home, i drive maybe 3 hours and i don't need to drink while I'm driving.

This clip told me something new to me 😅

[waffleswafflson]

Once had a client who said he needed a new mouse because his computer was running slow. Spent a long time trying to explain to him how that doesnt make sense and if he wants to fix the problem a new mouse aint gonna do it. Boss came along and just sold him a mouse

First lesson I learned in sales.

[stealzone]

They used to sell big rubbery platforms which had cup holders and trays for pickup truck types. Used one in my 1977 Ford F-150 4x4

[jonkeau]

He’s not wrong, my first car was a 71 beetle when I was in high school in the mid 2000’s. One of my first purchases was a cup holder that slid into the hole left when you uninstall the ash tray.

[jordanc]

Average drivers aren't taking cars on race tracks and driving within legal limits and/or on maintained roadways, a moderate improvement in cornering ability doesn't matter. Convenience on long drives across a huge country is important

[genuineimpulse]

I have a VW because I had to move one for someone. I'm six five an it was the first car in my life that I moved the seat all the way back and it was too far. It looks like a tiny car from the outside but I can fit 8 ft lumber and I fit. Amazing.

[minnesota_fats]

Can confirm, am American, bought a 1967 Thunderbird and it does not have cup holders and it is kind of annoying sometimes when I just want some coffee on my drive.

[kaylorchesney]

What i look for all depends on the type of car it is, if its a car for comfort then i expect comfort, if its made for roughness then i expect it to take what i throw at it, the list goes on

[Odin]

Cornering capability? I can leave my house and drive westward on a US highway and not have to take a single corner until I get into the mountains of New Mexico 2000km away.