When you think of being ferried around in luxury and comfort, only a small selection of brands instantly resonate. Mercedes-Benz is most certainly one of those. The German powerhouse has reigned king over the luxury sedan segment with the S-class for quite some time.

A traveling businessman's dream. The smooth powertrain combines with supple leather to whisk the suit wearers from meeting to meeting without the slightest chance of feeling any discomfort once they've molded themselves into those plush rear seats. In reality, the S-class has become a benchmark for many. And then in the early '00s, Volkswagen decided to give Mercedes a run for its money.

Meet the Phaeton. A car designed with those exact same criteria, but one that has gone somewhat under the radar. You'd be excused for confusing it for some kind of long-wheel-based Passat or Jetta, but the phaeton is so much more. It's VW's direct answer to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and when it was conceived, it was built to some ridiculous engineering levels thanks to the mad genius, the Late Ferdinand Piech.

RELATED:

Here's How Much A 2005 Volkswagen Phaeton Costs Today

The VW Phaeton

Volkswagen-Phaeton-2002 front end press image
Via Volkswagen

Ferdinand Piech, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, had a vision. Piech was about to retire as the CEO of Volkswagen but wanted to go out with a bang, that bang would be to commission what he thought to be the world’s greatest car. The idea seemed so out of touch with VW's beginnings, the Phaeton was destined for luxury, a concept far removed from the humble 'peoples car'.

Quick history lesson for perspective. At the same time that project Phaeton was underway, the VW group had just fully acquired Skoda. Skoda now occupied the position once held by the Volkswagen brand in VW Group's hierarchy, essentially, at the bottom. The Czech brand became the affordable one, meaning that VW had an opportunity to push their other brands' value up the ranking.

Volkswagen-Phaeton-2002 front seats with infotainment cream leather and wood trimmed steering wheel
Via Volkswagen

It didn't take long for Volkswagen to try their luck. And with Piech's push, the decision was made to build a proper luxury car. VW already had some cars competing with Mercedes lower offerings, so they decided to go for the top dog; the S-class. After a concept derivative on show at the IAA Motorshow in 1999. The Phaeton then went to full production ready for the 2002 model year. While it was built on the same platform as the Audi A8 and Bentley Continental, the engineering standards the car was set to, boggles the mind.

When the Phaeton hit the roads, it was tremendous. The rear was a lovely place to sit with a phone, TV screen, and even temperature-controlled cup holders. Piech wanted to match and surpass the quality of the ride and luxury experienced in an S-class.

The Phaeton was not just meant to be a rival to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but set a new benchmark. It is reported that Piech had briefed his engineers that the Phaeton needed to adhere to some rediculous standards. The cabin was meticulously engineered to allow the car to travel at 186mph all day long while maintaining an interior temperature of 72 degrees, even when exterior temperatures reached as much as 122 degrees. This was only one of the ten ridiculous targets Piech had set the Volkswagen engineers to meet, just to prove a point.

The car was available with a 4.2-liter V8 with 335HP or an optional 6.0-liter W12 engine with 420HP. The Phaeton had a base price of $83,000 when new and could easily go above 6 figures once all the options had been selected

RELATED: Everyday Driver Takes A Maserati Quattroporte, VW Phaeton To The Salt Flats

The Volkswagen Phaeton Was The People's S-Class

Volkswagen-Phaeton-2002 black rear shot
Via Volkswagen

Despite impressive top speed figures, and V8 and W12 engine options, sales weren't great. Even in Germany, which was Phaeton's biggest intended market by a long way. They averaged about 6,000 units per year, and although VW didn't say exactly what their goal was, there was a rumor flying that they had allocated a maximum output of 20,000 units annually. The Phaeton was still sold in Europe until 2016, but VW gave up on the US market completely at the end of the 2006 model year.

It was a strange choice that VW wanted to bring the Phaeton over to the US in the first place, but they did. Americans are known for being brand conscious, and the brand issue was something that VW themselves had made even worse than it needed to be. With a history of being highly selective with the models they shipped over, Americans developed a much narrower view of what a Volkswagen is in comparison to European consumers who are spoilt for choice.

Volkswagen Phaeton 2002 cream coloured rear seats
Via Volkswagen

The largest markets ended up being China followed by South Korea. If we judge it by numbers, the Phaeton was a failure for the VW Group. It could never reach the echelons that it had been aiming for, it faced internal competition from the A8 and Bentley Continental. But also could never get a hold of the brand image that came with the Mercedes S-Class badge, the goal that they had so eagerly been aiming for. In the end, only 2,235 Phaetons were sold in the USA. A lot of this can be owed to a few factors brand identity being one, but also price. The Phaeton was really expensive, $100,000 expensive at the time. This made it very hard for potential customers to consider it over an S-class.