Volkswagen Cars News

Volkswagen bags green car award

2008-06-26T01:09:00.000+03:00

THE Volkswagen Group, one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers and the largest car producer in Europe, recently received the World Car Of the Year Award for its Passat BlueMotion, one of the most environmentally friendly cars worldwide.

Wolfgang Hatz, Head of Volkswagen Group Powertrain Development, received the award on behalf of the company in New York.

“With a fuel consumption of only 5.1 litres (diesel), the Passat BlueMotion is one of the world's most economical cars and is also affordable. Our BlueMotion label is becoming a model for a whole new generation of economical cars,” said Hatz.

Volkswagen has seven BlueMotion models in its range. This will increase to 10 in the near future.

Besides its low fuel consumption, the car also emits low carbon emissions of 136g per kilometre.
The BlueMotion is powered by a 77kW/105 hp TDI engine.

The “World Green Cars 2008” saw the Passat BlueMotion successfully competing against several hybrid models as well as a fuel cell vehicle.

Volkswagen Unveils Cars Wholly Developed in China

2008-05-10T23:29:00.000+03:00

Volkswagen AG unveiled its Lavida and New Bora cars at Auto China 2008 (open to the public from April 22 to 28, 2008).

These models, slated for launch in summer 2008, were developed in China and exclusively targets the Chinese market. They are reportedly the first Volkswagen cars that were wholly developed outside Germany.

These models share the basic mechanism. Lavida will be manufactured and sold by FAW Volkswagen and New Bora by Shanghai Volkswagen.

The New Bora measures 4,540 (L) x 1,775 (W) x 1,467mm (H), and its wheelbase is 2,610mm long. Although information on the engine capacity has yet to be released, it comes in two types of four-cylinder gasoline engines mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift mode.

VW Eos Wins Consumer Reports Convertible Test

2008-04-09T03:32:00.000+03:00

The Detroit News reports, “Consumer Reports said it awarded the Volkswagen Eos the top score in its test of seven convertibles.” VW’s little convertible “narrowly beat out the BMW 328i, with both earning ‘very good’ scores. The Saab 9-3 and the Volvo C70 also scored within the ‘very good’ range.”

Consumer Reports itself comments, “Folding hard tops are the latest trend in convertibles.” Five of the seven cars tested featured hard tops. “But noise and weather isolation have more to do with individual vehicle design than whether the top is hard or soft, we found in our tests. The folding hard tops of the Pontiac and Chrysler, for example, tended to squeak, rattle, or generate more wind noise than some fabric tops did.”

The Car Connection adds, “The Saab [9-3] and Pontiac [G6] convertibles were not recommended overall, though, due to reliability issues with prior versions. Of the convertibles tested, five are retractable hardtop convertibles. Prices ranged from just over $32,000 to just under $50,000, a bit out of CR’s usual price range.”

Check out how the Eos fares against its competition in U.S. News' rankings and reviews of affordable four seat convertibles.

Volkswagen AG wants to produce a maximum of 250,000 cars per year in a production facility in the US

2008-03-26T15:20:00.000+02:00

VW management board member Jochem Heizmann said in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport trade magazine.

The cars to be produced in the planned factory should also have around 80 pct of their components imported from the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) region, he said.

VW this month disclosed it was examining potential locations for a car manufacturing plant it plans to build in the US. It said a decision is expected this summer.

VW Scirocco viewing

2008-03-18T21:23:00.000+02:00

What Car? is offering six readers the chance to take part in an exclusive preview of Volkswagen’s new Scirocco coupé, and give their personal opinions of the car for publication in What Car? magazine.

The Scirocco is a super-cool turbocharged four-seater coupé, and goes on sale this September, priced around £20,000.

Readers taking part will be the first members of the public in the UK to see the car, a left-hand-drive model brought over from Germany especially for the event.

The private preview will take place from 1.30-3.30pm on Friday, 28 March at VW’s flagship Milton Keynes showroom.

We’ll be asking for your views on the cars’ design, ergonomics and specification – your comments will be published in the July issue of What Car? magazine, along with your photo. You’ll also be asked to speak briefly on camera for footage at whatcar.com.

Weak dollar puts brake on Volkswagen in US

2008-03-06T01:26:00.000+02:00

Volkswagen is likely to remain lossmaking in the US so long as the dollar remains at its current level, in spite of numerous measures to boost its weak position in the world’s largest car market, Martin Winterkorn, chief executive, said.

The comments by Mr Winterkorn show how difficult it will be for VW, Europe’s largest carmaker, to achieve its goal of challenging Toyota as the world’s dominant mass-market carmaker. “At this dollar level, break-even would be difficult,” he told the Financial Times.

The dollar’s weakness is causing VW to take drastic steps to improve its competitiveness in the US, ranging from designing models especially for the country to deciding whether to open a factory there.

Mr Winterkorn said he hoped to save a substantial sum of money by increasing the amount of parts and raw materials VW bought in the US. He said he would try to persuade suppliers to buy 80 per cent of their base materials, such as steel, precious metals and aluminium, in the US rather than, as often is the case, in Europe.

Volkswagen Beetle To Ford Model T: The Top-5 Best-Selling Cars In History

2008-03-01T04:05:00.000+02:00

How many Ford Model-Ts have you seen on the road, lately? Is it more than the number of Volkswagen Beetles or Toyota Corollas you've seen around town or on the freeway?

Personally, I liked to see more Model-Ts. But according to the automotive news web site, Automoportal.com, the Model T and the Corolla have a lot in common. Both are among the top-five best-selling cars in history.

Here’s the list of the top-five best-selling cars in history and a comment on each vehicle:

Volkswagen says 2007 profit rises €4.1 billion

2008-02-29T18:47:00.000+02:00

German automaker Volkswagen AG said Friday that its 2007 net profit rose to €4.1 billion (US$6.2 billion) last year with sales of nearly 6.2 million cars worldwide.

The Wolfsburg-based company, Europe's biggest car maker in terms of sales, earned €4.1 billion last year compared with €2.7 billion in 2006, beating the €3.9 billion (US$5.92 billion) that analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast.

The company did not release its fourth-quarter figures.

Sales rose to €108.9 billion (US$165.2 billion) last year, up almost 4 percent from the €104.8 billion in sales it posted in 2006. Despite the gain, the sales were just under the €109.8 billion (US$166.5 billion) that analysts had predicted.