Troubled automaker Volkswagen AG is eschewing traditional focus groups and taking the concept several steps further in an attempt to understand exactly what American car buyers really want. In
December 2004, VW created a new research project dubbed Moonraker, in which a team of 19 European and four U.S. engineering, marketing, design and sales staffers will live and work in the U.S. until
June 2006. In their first 24 days in the country, the team traveled to 24 states, visiting the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the World of
Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. In Dallas, the members went to a rodeo and a drag race. They also tried out every form of transportation, including taking subway rides, driving rental cars and taking
red-eye flights. They had to drive a different vehicle every week. The goal was to achieve a deeper understanding of American culture in hopes of making Volkswagens more appealing to U.S. consumers.
VW also wants to turn around the fortunes of the company's U.S. operation, where it has lost more than $1 billion in each of the past two years as a result of declining sales, unfavorable exchange
rates and quality problems.
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