The next GTI will be an order of magnitude better, bringing it back in line with the original hot hatch.
Lighter, faster, stronger, better. That's what we can expect from the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf, due to be unveiled at the 2012 Paris Motor Show before it hits dealerships across Europe this fall and eventually lands on U.S. shores as a 2013 model.
So what makes it special? A combination of new manufacturing processes, an all-new platform, a range of upgraded engines and what will go down as one of the greatest democratizations of active safety and in-car technology in automotive history.
What's more, the next GTI will be an order of magnitude better because of it, bringing it back in line with the original hot hatch while packed with even more standard features.
It all starts with Volkswagen's new Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) platform, which is set to underpin every front-wheel-drive VW product from the Polo to the Passat, along with the 2013 Audi A3. To hear VW tell it, it will redefine the automaker's manufacturing processes while curing world hunger and eradicating leprosy.
Read on to find out what's got Volkswagen so excited.
The good people of Tennessee are no doubt thrilled to have a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. The facility already features well over 2,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs, and now the German automaker is bolstering employment by another 200 full-time VW staffers, boosting the employment total to 2,500 full-time and temp workers.
VW says it is making the move to enable the plant to increase production from 31 vehicles per hour to 35. The boosted line rate also means that VW dealers will soon have more Passat sedans to sell, though the automaker failed to mention the sedan in the post-jump press release. Given VW's torrid sales pace in January, we're guessing the jump in factory output will be good news for the automaker's retail outlets.
VW isn't just looking for line workers - the automaker is also looking for supervisors and engineers. Hit the jump to read over the VW press release, which includes information on how to apply for a position.
Volkswagen has released details on its upcoming 2013 Beetle TDI before the vehicle gets an official unveil at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. The oil-burning Beetle will bow with the same turbocharged 2.0-liter diesel engine found in the Jetta TDI and Passat TDI, and Volkswagen projects the engine should help it net 39 miles per gallon highway and 29 mpg city.
Those numbers aren't quite as lofty as we'd expect, especially given how well our long-term Jetta TDI has performed with the same engine under the hood. While we're still waiting on Environmental Protection Agency numbers, our guess is real-world drivers will see significantly better performance out of the latest diesel Bug, which marks its return after being absent since 2006.
With 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, the Beetle TDI shouldn't be a slouch to drive, either. Buyers may choose either a six-speed manual or dual-clutch gearbox. Otherwise, the Beetle TDI remains aesthetically similar to its gasoline counterparts. Expect to see it hit the market in mid-2012 as a 2013 model. In the meantime, stay tuned for our Chicago Auto Show coverage and hit the jump for the full press release.
The on-again, off-again Volkswagen BlueSport roadster is, well, on again according to EVO Magazine. The publication reportedly spoke with Uli Hackenberg, head of engineering with Volkswagen, who said the company's dealers are mistaken when they say there won't be a market for a vehicle like the BlueSport. Hakenberg said that the rise of hardware like the Toyota GT 86 and Subaru BRZ, alongside the upcoming next-generation Mazda MX-5 suggests buyers are once again willing to put down cash on an entry-level sports car. Throw in the fact that the dollar is regaining strength and European vehicles start to look even more competitive in the Land of the Free. Despite this, recent reports have indicated that the BlueSport's planned sibling at Porschehas been delayed, and its other planned sibling, the Audi R4, is understood to have been canceled back in May.
As a result, Volkswagen is reportedly going to ask its dealers to once again gauge demand for a mid-engine convertible. The roadster will need to see sales estimates of at least 50,000 units worldwide in order to get the go-ahead from corporate. Even if that happens, it will likely be a good three years before we see the production model touch down. Maestro, cue up the sad trombone if you would be so kind.
Volkswagen has the honor of being this year's top producing North American automotive manufacturer by a wide margin with its Puebla, Mexico facility. The factory managed to produce 510,041 units last year, beating out second-place Nissan and its Aguascalientes, Mexico plant by a staggering 149,245 units, according to Ward's Auto. Nissan jumped from third to second place after Toyota and its Georgetown plant dropped from the top five. Toyota and Honda both saw themselves ousted from the leader board after a year pockmarked by disruptions from earthquake and tsunami activity in Japan and flooding in Thailand.
The Japanese automakers' vacancies made room for Hyundai and its facility in Montgomery, Alabama with 338,127 units to take fourth place. Ford, meanwhile, moved from fifth in 2010 to third in 2011 with 344,446 units from its Dearborn Truck plant. Nissan rounded out the top five last year with the company's plant in Smyrna, Tennessee taking the automaker's second spot on the list.
Ward's Auto reports Volkswagen enjoyed a boost from the popularity of the Jetta. That model alone helped push the company's Puebla facility to a 75,356 unit gain over last year's figures. Head over to Ward's to see the full report.
The next Volkswagen Golf will be chock-full of standard and optional technology features, but its all-new Modular Infotainment System has the potential to set a new benchmark for both high-end and entry-level navigation, entertainment and connectivity.
Three new systems will be available when the 2013 Golf goes on sale in Europe towards the end of this year, starting with a five-inch touchscreen and moving up to a 5.8-inch unit and finally a range-topping eight-inch system. Each unit will be equipped with a capacitive touchscreen, with the eight-inch version packing an 800x450 resolution screen, multitouch functionality and the same NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor set to debut in future Audi models, including the next A3. Making use of that high-powered chipset will be revamped 3D graphics for menus and mapping, with free nav updates available for three years and the ability to activate additional features after the initial vehicle purchase.
Handwriting recognition will also be included in the system, much like the system already offered by Audi, which will allow users to skip the soft keyboard and write out destinations and point-of-interest searches. Additionally, VW is looking to include MirrorLink functionality (which essentially mirrors your phone's screen on the navigation display), as expected, Internet-connectivity through smartphone tethering will be an option, along with the ability to create a WLAN hotspot.
Finally, VW tells Autoblog it plans to integrate proximity sensors into the head unit - similar to Cadillac's CUE system - switching over from "display mode" to "operating mode" when it detects the driver or passenger's hand moving towards the screen. The proximity sensors could also detect which side of the screen your hand is placed and then highlight specific features for easier selection.
Naturally, pricing for each system won't be released until the Golf goes on sale in Europe this fall and hits the U.S. sometime in 2013, but VW representatives made it clear that these systems will be priced aggressively in order to compete with other feature-rich competitors.
Volkswagen has released an extended version of its Super Bowl ad ahead of the Big Game, and it may not be what you expected. While the automaker's teaser hinted toward yet another Star Wars-themed spot after the success of last year's "The Force," the new commercial focuses instead on a pudgy puppy named Bolt. The advertisement's tagline is "Back and better than ever," and Bolt enters into a fitness montage set to some excellent James Brown tunes in order to slim down and chase after the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle.
There isn't a single Star Wars reference throughout the whole clip, which may leave fans wondering exactly what that whole chorus of dogs barking in tune to the Empire's theme in the Volkswagen teaser was about. We won't spoil the twist for you, but we will say the 2012 Super Bowl ad heads toward a wretched hive of scum and villainy pretty quickly. Hit the jump for the video, as well as the full press release.
Indiana Democrats fought it for weeks by not showing up for sessions, but eventually the Repblican-led House of Representatives was able to pass a measure to make Indiana a Right-to-Work state. That bill will go to the State Senate where the Republicans have an even larger majority, and observers expect it to be signed into law by governor Mitch Daniels before the Super Bowl takes place in Indianapolis on February 5.
Assuming nothing stops that from happening, Indiana becomes state number 23 among the nation's Right-to-Work faction, but the first in the upper Midwest, known so well for its wide and heavily unionized manufacturing base that it's called The Rust Belt. According to a report in Automotive News, Governor Daniels points to VW's decision to build its plant in Tennessee as the reason for the legislation. In fact, he said Volkswagen wouldn't even return phone calls. "Why would that one company not even talk to us? I think I know."
Indiana's strong union presence didn't stop other manufacturers from setting up plants or maintaining plants there, such as Honda, Subaru and General Motors. But it appears Daniels took the VW snub especially hard and wants to sure that, if the threat of unionization really was the problem in that case, that it is never a problem again.
The world would be considerably less entertaining if we could all predict the future. Even so, the classic car gurus at Hagerty Insurance have cast a few chicken bones in an attempt to figure out which vehicles produced today might eventually turn collectible.
For starters, it begins with none other than the mighty Buick Regal GS. Hagerty says the vehicle is a win because it's the first Buick with a manual transmission since the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. The Fiat 500 Abarth also makes an appearance alongside an even hotter hatch, the Volkswagen Golf R. Of course, we're simply thrilled to see the sinister Audi TT RS make a showing. Hit the jump for the full list or view each vehicle in our gallery above.
It's been a whole three weeks since we checked in with Volkswagen's takeoever of Porsche, and the most recent news wasn't so good: investors filed a $2.6 billion suit against Porsche over the Stuttgart maker's attempt to gobble up VW. Those same investors also filed an arbitration application against Volkswagen. That hasn't stopped a VW executive from saying that its ownership of Porsche could finally be concluded this year, according to a report in Der Spiegel.
VW had earlier predicted the deal would be done last year, then released a statement in September saying that that too many hurdles and unknowns remained concerning investigations and economic ramfications for the deal to get done in 2011. The hurdles centered around previous lawsuits, including one brought by American investors in 2010, and the fact that VW couldn't evaluate Porsche appropriately until they were settled.
However, the latest upbeat report on overcoming the obstructions to getting a deal done this year don't mention those lawsuits. Instead, the resolved issues are a one-billion-euro tax payment that VW can avoid by creating a holding company by 2014 to control the Porsche stake, and VW's agreeing to contractually assure Porsche retains control over its models and where it spends its money. According to that unnamed executive, this opens the door for VW to sponge up the final 50.1 percent of Porsche it doesn't own, for a price of €3.9 billion - about $5.1B USD - but we have no idea how or why the lawsuits aren't mentioned as a factor.
In the meantime, Reuters reports that VW and Porsche are working "at arm's length" even though they have the same CEO and CFO and are busy developing cars together, a fact which is testing CEO Martin Winterkorn's patience. Earlier this month, Winterkorn was quoted as saying he wants to bring the companies closer "without needing to have a lawyer stand next to a Porsche employee every time he screws something into a Volkswagen or vice-versa."
Barrett-Jackson 2012, Camaro ZL1 vs Shelby GT500, Volkswagen says it's really #1, C7 Chevrolet Corvette
Episode #266 of the Autoblog Podcast is here with Chris, Dan, Zach and Drew Phillips this week. Topics include the Barrett-Jackson auction, smack talk from the Camaro ZL1 chief, Volkswagen disputing GM's claim of #1 in the world, and a C7 Corvette sighting. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jumpfor you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Get the podcast
[UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10PM Eastern at UStream
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly
Feedback
Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com
Voicemail: 734-288-8POD (734-288-8763)
Review the show in iTunes and take our survey
Volkswagen has once again proven itself capable of crafting some seriously clever advertising, and with the Super Bowl quickly approaching, all eyes have turned to the automaker to see what the company has in store this year. In order to stoke even more interest, Volkswagen has released what it calls an ad for an ad in its "The Bark Side" spot. According to Automotive News, Volkswagen wanted to get fans excited about its spot for the Super Bowl and set about casting 12 dogs. The production team specifically chose the pups based on their resemblance to certain Star Wars characters instead of their vocal ability.
The clip was then shot just like a music video, both with all the dogs together and with each of them individually. The final track was crafted using a mix of archived dog barks which were then layered with new sounds from the dogs on stage. Certain barks were then pitched to catch the tune required. Hit the jump to check out the video once again, and then click on the Automotive News link to learn more about how VW's ad came to be.
The Volkswagen Golf GTI stands as an enduring icon in the hot hatch genre. But as the Golf gets bigger, so does the GTI, and when it comes to hot hatches, bigger is not always better. That's where the Polo GTI comes in, but if even that's too big for minimalists, Volkswagen is reportedly set on putting the Up! GT into production.
Unveiled as a show car alongside the production Up! at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, the GT Up! concept pictured above incorporated 17-inch alloys to fill those little wheel wells, a new front end with wider grille, bigger brake ducts and integrated LED accents, as well as a diffuser, spoiler and twin exhaust pipes installed around back.
According to PistonHeads, the production Up! GT is tipped to get a three-cylinder turbo driving around 110 horsepower through a six-speed gearbox to the front wheels. That may be less than the 133 hp packaged by the Renaultsport Twingo, but could prove a feisty pocket rocket in its own right.
Volkswagen has unveiled the new production model five-door Up! after patent drawings of the vehicle made their way to the web. The newest member to the Volkswagen small-car line is expected to land on dealer lots in Germany by early March, with availability opening up to the rest of Europe by summer. The vehicle will launch with the exact same engines and external dimensions as its three-door brethren. That means buyers will be able to opt for either a 60-horsepower, 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine or a 75 horsepower version of the same powerplant. Even so, Volkswagen anticipates roughly half of Up! buyers will opt for the new five-door bodystyle.
The five-door Up! does serve up a few stylistic changes over its three-door counterpart beyond the addition of two extra doors. For starters, the rear hatch is solid glass and the hatchback's side profile line is now basically straight from front to rear. In the three-door version, that line kicks up slightly as it heads toward the rear of the vehicle. Buyers can expect to pay $13,295 (including Europe's notorious taxes) at current conversion rates, which is a little over $600 more than the three-door hatch. Hit the jump for the full press release.
To help tell the story of the 256-horsepower 2012 Golf R, Volkswagen has enlisted aid from an unexpected quarter: hot rodder and kandy-kolored-tangerine-flake-inclined Chip Foose.
Turns out that Mr. Overhaulin' owned a 1985 Golf GTI and thought the world of it, and he engages in a couple minutes of reminiscing about his Mk II to prove it.
The video is after the jump, and there's a new Golf R Apple iPad app which should also help those of you looking for more interactive elements when digging into the history of one of the original hot hatches (we've included a video of the app after the jump, too).
Volkswagen knows how to get attention through advertising, as its latest teaser spot shows. Start with the Star Wars Imperial March to make the tighty-whities of every 40-year-old geek just a little bit tighter, and add dogs for the rest of the nation. That's how you get the undivided attention of the United States of America.
The car that's coming back is likely to be the diesel-powered Beetle TDI, especially since the timing lines up with the Chicago Auto Show that runs from February 8th. What, you're still here? Who cares about conjecture, go watch the teaser. There are dogs dressed up like Ewoks, and there's even a little Wookie singing in there. See it after the jump.
When European deliveries of the then new Volkswagen Passat CC started back in late 2007, even in its home market, the know-it-alls received it with skepticism. There didn't seem to be any burning need for a sexed-up four-door based on a Passat chassis. Was there an audience large enough for a Mercedes-Benz CLS-inspired sedan for the coupe-loving common family?
Apparently the smug automotive intelligentsia was wrong about the CC. In four years, the image-enhancing four-door with the swoopy body has quietly sold 320,000 units worldwide. Last we checked, that's a lot for something supposedly meant to fill a niche.
For the 2013 model year, the CC is receiving a mid-life updo in the form of several small but important touches. The unfortunate news is that many of the premium upgrades happening in this freshened CC for the European market will not come out to play in North America. But enough of them will, making a First Drive the proper thing to do. Besides, it's the least we could do when VW has finally changed the name of the car worldwide from the European "Passat CC" to the simpler "CC" moniker favored Stateside.
Volkswagen has confirmed to Autoblog that the oil-burning 2013 Beetle TDI will make its public debut at the Chicago Auto Show next month.
No specific details have been released at this time, but you can bet that the automaker's slick 2.0-liter turbo-diesel four will be underhood. In the Golf, Jetta and Passat, the mill kicks out 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, and both six-speed manual and DSG transmissions will likely be available. This engine is already good for as high as 43 miles per gallon highway in the Passat (and we've routinely hit as high as 50 mpg in our long-term Jetta TDI), so we expect exceptional fuel economy out of the diesel Bug, as well.
What's more, our understanding is that Volkswagen plans to offer the TDI engine in the upcoming Beetle Convertible, which will make it the very first clean diesel droptop available in the United States. Of course, we won't know for sure until the roofless Bug debuts later this year, but still, it's something to get excited about (if ragtop Beetles are your thing, anyway).
Stay tuned for the full scoop live from the Chicago show next month.
Images of a five-door version of the Volkswagen Up! have surfaced courtesy of a European patent office. The German automaker confirmed a five-door version of the pint-sized vehicle was headed to market, and Volkswagen even went so far as to show off the Cross Up! Concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Judging by the patent photo, the production version of the five-door Up! will stick fairly close to the concept and will ride on a similarly tall suspension. That should give the vehicle more of a mini crossover appearance instead of a small hatchback.
Information on drivetrain options is suitably scarce at the moment, but we expect the five-door Up! to roll off of the production line with the same engines as its shorter three-door kin. That means buyers should be able to tick boxes for either a 59-horsepower gasoline engine or a brawny 74-horsepower gas powerplant. A 67-horsepower natural gas engine is also available in the Up! as well. A taller-riding Up! is a perfect fit in Russia and South America where roads can vary from uncomfortable to inhumane.
A Black Knight stalks the ramparts of corporate castles, he carries a shield decorated with a wreath of beans, he swings a double-edged spreadsheet and he rides a terrifying black mare called The Bottom Line. His name is The Business Case and if a new report from Autocar is accurate, he's done his foul work again, this time dealing another blow to the already-long-delayed Volkswagen Bluesport Roadster. Even though the engineering work for the two-seater convertible is reportedly finished, it appears no one can come up with a way to support the necessary sales projections of 50,000 units annually.
That is in part because Jonathan Browning, head of VW USA, apparently doesn't see the point of expanding VW's product portfolio with another model (a truly unexpected sentiment coming from Volkswagen as far as we're concerned). The U.S. being the largest consumer of sports cars, our sitting this one out puts the 2009 Detroit Auto Show showcar in a tough spot.
Synergies being what they are, that also puts Bluesport's brand brothers from Audi and Porsche in doubt. Audi plans for an R4 will apparently get iced in light of the news, but Porschemight have dodged a bullet: it wanted a four-cylinder 550-successor, but not one that would eat into Boxster sales, which this car almost certainly would. The Bluesport isn't officially dead yet, but at three years in and counting, you can be sure there's a hand on the life-support plug.
