Volkswagen introduced the Phaeton in 2003. The Phaeton was a new high end sedan designed to compete against already established premium brands. The Phaeton was offered with a variety of V6, V8, and W12 engines. The car was stringently engineered, and meant to establish VW as a automaker capable of producing true luxury cars, yet sales did not meet expectations worldwide. The Phaeton was only sold in North America between 2004 and 2006, while worldwide, production continued until 2016 before the model was discontinued.