2010 PARIS MOTOR SHOW NEWS SPECIAL
The Volkswagen Scirocco hot hatch is no closer to Australia despite the personal backing of one of the most senior executives in the company.
Volkwsagen board member Dr Ulrich Hackenberg told Australian media on a recent trip to company headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany "I'm on your side", adding "there is no reason the Scirocco can't be sold in Australia".
"It shouldn't be a problem to sell it in Australia," said Hackenberg, who has raced a Scirocco in the Nurburgring 24 Hour race and has one in his garage as a daily drive car.
"The Scirocco is very successful in Great Britain and has good handling, good for the tricky roads in Australia. So there's potential for Australia."
But his comments were countered by Anke Koeckler, the boss of Volkswagen Australia.
"The strong Australian dollar makes it attractive and we are sure there is potential for sales of the Scirocco locally. But we want to make sure it is additional [sales]," Koeckler told the Carsales Network.
"We are not launching a car in Australia having much more complexity and cost if we think we just have substitution with Golf R and Golf GTI. We don't want to launch a car unless we have a commitment from the dealers that it grows our business.
"I cannot tell you right now if it comes but we are always looking at this," she said.
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