
I think VW got caught out on the airbag thing.  It's only been in the last
year or two that airbags have become a significant selling feature.
VW assumed that  automatic belts would satisfy govt. requirements for
passive restraint, but didn't guess that the 'merican consumer would
actually make buy decisions based on the presence of an airbag.

VW is really hurting right now in the US market.  Check out the
article in last week's Autoweek about the crisis at VW.  Golfs and
Jettas will be coming from the plant in Mexico, but they don't have
the quality at that facility.  As per normal VW practice, the US
launch of the Jetta III is delayed again and again, until a good chunk
of the useful life of the design is spent.

I think that Passats come from Germany, so there is not the same
quality and availability issue.  It's a nice car with a nice engine.
Whether VW will be a player in the US market in two year's time is a
different question...