Marketing 101

I bought a new car recently, because my older one was giving me agita.

I shopped the Passat, but opted against because it’s a 10-year old design, and I want something newer. The new Passat comes out later this year, but I really couldn’t afford to wait anymore.

So yesterday VW sends me this super-secret exclusive-sounding email introducing me to the new Passat, which is quite nice. It also gave me the opportunity to be an “Alpha driver”, which is the first time I’ve ever heard that phrase. Interestingly, autoblog used it in a post yesterday, too. What a strange coincidence, eh?

In any event, if they ever offer to fly me out somewhere 1st class to test drive the new Passat with its sweet 2.0 turbo FSI engine on a track, I’ll bring my camera and post here.

(FSI is a direct-injection system, as opposed to a fuel injection system. Audi uses it, too:

With FSI, fuel is sprayed directly into the combustion chambers through a high-pressure, common-rail system, which works with a single-piston high-pressure pump to provide the precise amount of gasoline required. The engine’s design allows for a 12.5:1 compression ratio, the highest for a gasoline-engine production car, claims Audi

)