Caught in Possession

Well. If the media coverage on the VERY FIRST DAY of Volkswagen's sponsorship with DC United is any indication of the kind of exposure zee Germans will get from their many millions over the next five years, I think it -- like David Beckham -- will pay for itself in short order.

Since ol' Kyle S at behindthebadge.com has done such a thorough job of rounding up the long list of relevant stories, I'll save us all a bit of time and simply direct you to his list here. Could it be that the Black-and-Red/Fahrvergnugen alliance is already...OVEREXPOSED?!?!

I mean, seriously people. I am impressed with the dedication and spirit of the United fans already lining up to buy whatever limited-edition, buy-this-car-and-support-your-favorite-team DCU Jetta that will surely be p*mped throughout the DC-area in the coming months. And it's nice to see someone do something interesting with the black hole/gravel pit behind the north goal at RFK. But I think VW is making out like gangbusters here.

Did you know that Volkswagen has been taking a bath lately? Sales have plunged 32 percent in the last half-decade and even VW America boss Stefan Jacoby -- who, as you can see above, is a dead ringer for well-traveled German coach Felix Magath -- admits that VW claims a US market share of just 1.5 percent. And there's this:

"The company...has seen a stream of departures in key ranks, losing nine upper level employees in the past 20 months. Many in the marketing department are not being asked to make the move to Virginia."

And, most noteworthy of all...VW spent $183 million on advertising last year, and $295 million the year before that. Makes $2.8 mil a year -- or even the $3.7 mil a year figure that got batted around last week -- look pretty modest, eh?