VW: Moonraker studies Malibu, cars

Named after Ian Fleming's 1955 spy novel, the Moonraker Project was set in motion by Volkswagen AG Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder, and is being closely watched by the VW brands' new global chief executive, Wolfgang Bernhard, the former COO at DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group.

Pulling a page from the reality television series Big Brother, 23 Volkswagen employees have shacked up near the laid-back California beach town of Malibu . But they aren't there for fun and games.

Times are tough for the German automaker's U.S. operations. Once the biggest of the import brands, Volkswagen of America's sales have slumped sharply since the beginning of the decade. And even the planned profusion of new product due to market next year isn't likely to turn things around, company officials have come to grudgingly concede.

A fundamental problem is that VW has lost touch with the distinctive tastes and needs of American motorists. So the employees camped out in California - including 22 Germans and one American - have been assigned to put their ears to the ground and come back with recommendations that could lead to a new wave of vehicles specifically designed for the huge U.S. marketplace.

Ultimately, the effort is meant to generate "a systematic change in how we view the United States ," said Adrian Hallmark, the new American boss of the VW brand.