So, is it that VW are deliberatley keeping the build slow? I always thought VW had high residual because of brand image and build quality. You seems to be saying is more to do with the keeping availibility low??
It's all of the above, but keeping availability low helps. BMWs don't hold their value like they used to, and they will build you one as quickly as they can. You can get a 135M in 6 to 8 weeks from point of ordering, but you can wait 6 months for a Golf R. BMW are now heavily in the Fleet game - the 318D and 320D are rep mobiles, every other police car or ambulance car you see is a BMW. These lease cars get dumped on the used market at 2 or 3 years old in great quantity, though auctions and car supermarkets, pushing down the used prices. Pretty much all 1 and 3 series hold 45-48% of their RRP after 3 years (including the performance models). There are far fewer GTIs, GTDs and normal Golfs in the fleet scene.
A GTI or a GTD is a very expensive car to buy for what it is, but as a car to run for 3 years, the residuals make it a relatively cheap car to run for what it is. Around 6 years ago, VWs shot up in price, but they weren't any more expensive to have for 3 years because the residuals shot up with the RRP. The MK6 GTI went up 20% vs the last RRP of the MK5, for very little extra in the way of equipment and output.
Right now people are prepared to pay what VW are asking for them, due to image, perceived quality and residuals. If the residuals weren't all that great, i'd probably be in an Audi right now.
If you measure quality by the number of times your car goes in for warranty work, i'd say VW are distinctly average, but the cars feel solid and once you iron out the build niggles, i'd expect the average VW to outlive most of its peers. I wouldn't expect many Alfas to do 123k miles without mechanical incident as my dad's MK5 GT170TDI had when he traded it in, but it probably had another 125k miles left in it.
