Yep, Volkswagen is getting it's very own performance division just like the big boys. At least that's what a Volkswagen executive told Inside Line at a press event recently.
"BMW has its M, Mercedes has AMG, and our sibling Audi has Quattro. This new R division will be our Quattro," the executive said.
The new division will be an expansion of the current Volkswagen Individual group already in Europe.
InsideLine News: VW Setting Up New R Performance Group
Volkswagen is considering production of an R version of its upcoming sixth-generation Jetta at its Peubla factory in Mexico. The new model is part of the company's efforts to give its U.S. lineup a greater number of image-leading performance models and lure younger customers to the brand.
The new four-door sedan, possibly to be previewed at the SEMA show in November, has been conceived to rival popular Japanese and European performance models such as the Honda Civic Si and BMW 128i.
Volkswagen won't officially confirm the existence of new model but officials at the European launch of the new Golf R in Ellmau, Austria this week indicate production plans for the Jetta R are already well advanced.
"Our modular construction and production process make it fairly straightforward. It's now a matter of formulating a sound business case to ensure the car is profitable. We don't want to leave the affordable performance sedan market in the US to our rivals but importing sporting models from Europe is proving prohibitively expensive at the moment," said a high level Inside Line source familiar with Volkswagen's North American model strategy.
Continue reading Volkswagen Considering "R" Version of Next-Generation Jetta .
Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.
You may recall that we track tested a Volkswagen Sportwagen several months ago. So why bother doing the same tests all over again?
Well, this time our Jetta Sportwagen was powered by Volkswagen's 2.0-liter TDI engine. It's about as popular as a diesel engine gets in the U.S. At one point last year, Volkswagen said it was literally sold out of Jetta Sportwagens with the TDI option. Oh, and Volkswagen dropped the 2.0T from the options list on the Sportwagen for 2010.
What's so great about the TDI anyway? Mostly torque and great mileage. Its 236 pound-feet of torque tops the gasoline-powered 2.0-liter engine by a healthy margin (207 lb-ft) and the TDI's EPA ratings of 30 mpg city and 42 mpg highway make it one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the road. And what do you lose in terms of performance? See what our test drivers had to say after some track time.
Continue reading IL Track Tested: 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Sportwagen.
Remember that Martin Eberhard guy who co-founded Tesla and then left after butting heads with Elon Musk? Well, now he's back in the car game, and this time he's signed on with a serious player, at least when it comes to regular cars that is.
Green Car Advisor has confirmed that Eberhard was hired on full-time at Volkswagen's R&D center in Palo Alto, CA. That's the same Palo Alto that will soon house the headquarters of Tesla Motors. Small world eh?
What is Eberhard doing exactly? Volkswagen officials weren't about to go into that level of detail, probably because they don't know either. Stands to reason that he might be helping the company develop the electric cars it keeps showing off at auto shows. Wouldn't Martin just love to help develop a production version of the electric Up! city car and get it on the road before Tesla's planned "affordable" car?
Green Car Advisor: Tesla Co-Founder Martin Eberhard Now Working at Volkswagen R&D
#NAIAS An all-male dance troupe and smoke machine were on hand to welcome the Volkswagen New Compact Coupe (or VW NCC) into the world at the Detroit auto show today. To a man, the dancers were dressed in rumpled two-piece suits -- wardrobe shorthand for the post-college preps who will buy the production version of this Jetta coupe.
Oh, actually, there's no official confirmation that this is the precursor to a two-door Jetta production car. But too many winks and smiles were exchanged with Volkswagen public relations officials to think this is anything but a 2012 Jetta coupe. It's likely to be sold under a different name, though, we hear. Something like "Jetta CC," but different than that.
As we've written, the front-wheel-drive NCC is said to be a full hybrid with a 150-hp TSI engine and a 27-hp electric motor joining forces with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. But there's no reason to think a production Jetta coupe wouldn't come with more conventional full-gasoline and diesel engine options.
The redesigned 2011 VW Jetta sedan will be out in the U.S. this summer. So remember this face.
Thanks to James Riswick for capturing the dance troupe in action.
Photos of the Volkswagen NCC concept have started to trickle out early ahead of its debut at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. The hybrid coupe is an early look at a two-door Jetta scheduled for production in the next couple of years. We'll have a full story up at 10:30, but until then here are a few photos to give you an idea what's coming.
Full Story: Volkswagen NCC Concept at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show
Sangyup Lee, the Korean-born designer who drew up the latest Camaro is leaving the company to become chief exterior designer at Volkswagen's west coast design studio. Lee worked at General Motors for 10 years and is responsible for several interesting concepts like the Buick Velite and Chevrolet Stingray.
According to the New York Times, Mr. Lee's experience bringing his Camaro design to production was not always easy. "Every fraction of an inch of hood and roof height was an occasion for battles with the engineers," Lee noted. Sounds like fun.
DTM may be the German equivalent of NASCAR today, but in the 1980s, the race cars competing in Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft were a lot closer to the production cars on which they were based.
If you like E30 BMWs and 190-series Benzes, you'll enjoy this well edited video, which has ample of footage of cars jumping and fenders rubbing in the pack.
Undoubtedly, you've heard about Volkswagen's TDI Cup racing series that gives young, upcoming drivers (aged 16-26) a chance to race lightly modified Volkswagen Jetta TDI sedans. Now VW is making a documentary, Racing Under Green, about its race series, now in its second season, and the company has released this trailer.
From the looks of it, there will be equal parts racing and reality-show melodrama (i.e., car crashes, hurt feelings, recriminations). Still, we've always liked the idea of this race series, simply because it doesn't involve the best of the best and the richest of the rich, so we might watch anyway.
Racing Under Green airs on Discovery Planet Green Jan. 19 at 9 p.m. EST and on Discovery HD Jan. 24 at 10 p.m. EST.
Ward's has published its annual top 10 list of engines, with awards to be given at next month's 2010 Detroit Auto Show.
In determining the winners, six Wards' editors tested 34 vehicles, evaluating each engine "based on horsepower, torque, refinement, technical relevance and comparative data." To even be part of the field, the engine had to be an all-new or significantly revised offering or be a returning 2009 winner. And here's the list:
-- 2.0L TFSI Turbocharged DOHC Inline-4 (Audi A4)
-- 3.0L TFSI Supercharged DOHC V6 (Audi S4)
-- 3.0L DOHC Inline-6 Turbodiesel (BMW 335d)
-- 2.5L DOHC Inline-4 Hybrid (Ford Fusion Hybrid)
-- 3.5L EcoBoost Turbocharged DOHC V6 (Ford Taurus SHO)
-- 2.4L Ecotec DOHC Inline-4 (Chevrolet Equinox)
-- 4.6L Tau DOHC V8 (Hyundai Genesis)
-- 2.5L Turbocharged DOHC Horizontally-Opposed-4 (Subaru Legacy 2.5GT)
-- 1.8L DOHC Inline-4 Hybrid (Toyota Prius)
-- 2.0L SOHC Inline-4 Turbodiesel (Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI)
Volkswagen will go ahead and buy a 20-percent stake in Suzuki at a cost of $2.5 billion. VW is expected to increase its stake in the Japanese automaker. In Japan, a stake of 33 percent or more gives a shareholder effective management control over a company.
Suzuki will invest about half the proceeds from the purchase for a 2.5-percent voting stake in Volkswagen.
At a joint press conference in Tokyo, Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said, In partnership with Suzuki, the Volkswagen Group can take a big step forward in the compact-car segment, particularly in the emerging markets in Asia. In turn, Suzuki can benefit from our experience with efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles."
Meanwhile, Suzuki's CEO, Osamu Suzuki, responded to questions about whether Suzuki would get a German CEO sharply, "I don't want you to misunderstand: Suzuki is not becoming a 12th brand for Volkswagen. I don't want other folks telling me how to do things."
Also today, Suzuki announced it is ending its partnership with GM on the CAMI Automotive plant, which stopped building the Suzuki XL7 at the end of the 2009 model year. (The plant still builds the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.)
Variations of the Volkswagen Up! have been touring the auto show circuit for years, and now VW has announced plans to start production of the minicar at its Bratislava, Slovakia, plant. This will include the three-door Up! hatchback, the Space Up! (an Up! with a longer wheelbase and an extra pair of doors) and the Space Up! Blue, an all-electric version (we're guessing the supplemental high-temperature fuel cell and solar panel from the original concept won't make it to production). Unlike the original Up!s, which were said to be rear-engine/rear-drive, the production versions will be conventional transverse front-engine, front-drive cars.
The Bratislava plant, which also assembles the Touareg, Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, built 249,000 vehicles in 2007, but production has fallen below 200K since then. But since the Up! will spawn lower-cost Seat and Skoda versions as part of Volkswagen's New Small Family car line, VW plans to get annual output up to 400,000 vehicles.
IL News: Volkswagen Up! Goes into Slovakia Production in 2011
Curiously, the parrot is as dead-on with the gruff engine note as he/she is with the quick shifts you get with VW's dual-clutch Direct Shift Gearbox. And to think, this commercial is going to motivate all sorts of French people to head over to their local Volkswagen dealership to buy a Golf TDI with DSG.
Just when we had forgotten all about the Scirocco R, Volkswagen goes and unloads another batch of photos. The shots were destined for European outlets, of course, as they're the only ones who will get a chance to buy the 261-horsepower coupe. I'm sure we'll get some sort of Golf R or something. Yay.
Volkswagen Golf R and Scirocco R in Germany
Continue reading Volkswagen Teases Again With New Pictures of Scirocco R.
Auto Observer has picked up an article appearing the current print issue of CAR in which Georg Kacher makes a case that Suzuki could be in Volkswagen AG's hands by the end of the year. The draw for VW is thought to be Suzuki's production capacity in China, India, Indonesia and Thailand. India appears to be a likely candidate for Up! production.
If such a deal went through, it's thought that VW would fold up Suzuki's struggling U.S. operation post-haste. Volkswagen wouldn't want the likes of the Kizashi and SX4 competing (to whatever extent) with its own small-car offerings. Any U.S. Suzuki dealerships that happen to be in desirable areas might be transformed into Volkswagen stores.
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