Word: rabbiters
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...Volkswagen Rabbit, introduced in 1975 as the replacement for the homely but lovable Beetle, has never won as secure a place in the hearts of American car buyers. Last week Volkswagen dealers began showing off a racy new Rabbit model called the GTI that is designed to put some hop back into the elderly car line. Mixing its animal metaphors, Volkswagen describes the GTI as "a wolf in sheep's clothing." In fact, it is a slickly styled jack rabbit, with new trim and a bigger engine, that is designed to be driven like a sports...
...about $10,000 fully equipped, the GTI sells for three times as much as the original $2,995 Rabbit. The base price of interim Rabbits climbed steeply-more than $400 annually on average-which is the biggest reason Volkswagen's U.S. sales have slumped from 570,000 (nearly all Beetles) in 1970 to about 175,000 (including 100,000 Rabbits) this year...
Volkswagen has also been slow to react to changes in the U.S. car market. After keeping the Beetle in production for 30 years, it confidently expected to be able to sell Rabbits until 1990. But competitors were quick to copy the Rabbit's front-wheel design and efficient use of interior space. Today's car buyers can choose from a number of similar-looking makes, including the Mazda GLC, which sells for $5,295,'and Chrysler's $5,840 Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni. Those base prices are well below the $6,290 for the standard...
Instead of stressing economy, Volkswagen has decided to make a virtue of the car's higher price. In a new advertising campaign, it stresses the Rabbit's made-in-Germany heritage of quality engineering and reliability. Admits James Fuller, vice president of Volkswagen of America: "We are aiming at the customer of higher expectations." Whether that strategy will work remains to be seen. For the first nine months of this year, Rabbit sales plummeted 43.4% below 1981's figure, and Volkswagen's share of the U.S. auto market stood at a meager 1.9%, well below...
...Although rabbit-like Stricker held the lead throughout most of the tortuous, 3.1 mile course. Wiley--her determined, lanky room-mate--surged ahead in the final 600 meters to take first place with a time of 17:09. Wiley's clocking, though not a course record, is a new mark for Ivy competition in the Park by almost a minute...