Haha this is great. A couple days ago a little blurb popped up on AutoWeek about how the guy said the Phaeton wasn't a good idea:

The head of Audi of America Inc. isn't surprised that Volkswagen's Phaeton sedan hasn't sold well in the United States.

"It could be the best car, but I would still not buy it because it has the VW logo and because I have to go to a VW dealership where the salesmen are used to selling Jettas and Golfs," Axel Mees said at a press event here last week.

Mees, 53, is no stranger to the luxury market. Before joining Audi on March 1, he spent 20 years with BMW AG.

"Volkswagen underestimated the weakness of their brand in the luxury segment," he said, adding that former Volkswagen AG CEO Ferdinand Piech "was an engineer and he wanted to prove that he can build great cars, and he didn't look at the marketing aspect, the brand aspect."

Through October, U.S. dealerships sold only 1,433 Phaetons. VW's original goal: 5,000 cars annually.

Now today on The Car Connection, he's been fired!

Axel Mees, the brand chief for Audi of America, has been fired for critical remarks made concerning former VW chairman Ferdinand Piech and the Phaeton sedan. Mees had been named head of the Audi brand in America only on March 1. Audi said in a brief release that Mees had left the company and that the current management would lead the brand until a replacement was named.