Volkswagen finally released information and even images of its 2012 VW Tiguan crossover.
Volkswagen recently issued a recall of its 2010 Routan minivan.
Remember the Volkswagen – Suzuki alliance / partnership born last year? Well, apparently, it’s not working out as planned.
Volkswagen AG said first-quarter profit more than tripled as the VW and Audi brands attracted Chinese customers.
Net income increased to 1.71 billion euros ($2.51 billion) from 473 million euros a year earlier, the company said today. Profit beat the 1.63 billion-euro average of seven analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue rose 31 percent to 37.5 billion euros.
The time has finally come, the New York Auto Show came and went. The last major U.S. auto show of the season. If you ask many in the industry, you might hear a collective sigh of relief. Last week was a flurry of press conferences and vehicle reveals.
As you might expect, some were great, but there were definitely some winners and losers. Of course, we must mention the WTF section as well. So without further delay, let’s jump into it.
The 2012 Volkswagen Passat is facing a kind of perfect storm of skepticism from long-time fans of the brand. Volkswagen has wasted no chance to tell the world that the company's newest sedan will be custom-tailored to the American market, with styling and packaging tweaks designed to set the vehicle apart from its European counterpart. If that weren't enough, the new North American Passat will also carry the distinction of being the first VW product to be built at the automaker's brand-new assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
VW fans have always embraced the German flavor of their vehicles, but as the company pushes toward its (massively ambitious) goal of selling 800,000 units per year by 2018, we can expect to see more market-specific products in our neck of the woods. That trend kicked off with the 2011 Jetta – a vehicle that sacrificed interior materials and suspension refinement to meet a lower price point while growing larger to accommodate American tastes.
WHAT’S NEW — 2012 VW Passat: All-new for 2012, the VW Passat offers a more spacious cabin but keeps the luxurious interior and affordable German engineering that car shoppers expect from Volkswagen. The mid-size sedan, which debuted at the 2011 North American International Auto Show, will be built in America at VW’s new Chattanooga assembly plant. New features include a TDI Clean Diesel engine option, an Integrated Crash Response System (ICRS), available remote start and, on certain models, the available Fender Premium Audio System – a nine-speaker sound system that gives you the power to share your favorite song with just about everyone in the neighborhood. Or at the stop light.
The brave new world of smartphone apps is budding everywhere, and that includes the automotive industry, now that car manufacturers are looking for new ways to engage with both owners and brand fans. Following is an overall list of current smartphone applications (the vast majority of which are designed for the iPhone platform) developed by automakers.
Volkswagen's choice of Berlin for the launch of its 2012 Beetle inevitably struck us Yanks as curious – and not just because of the horrible abundance of construction projects in the city that makes driving a relative concept at best. The last time a Beetle was unveiled to massive acclaim in Berlin was 1938 and, well, you can finish that story for us. What is most pertinent in that remark, however, is how the original Beetle transcended politics and worldwide upheaval to thrive on its own merits.
The recall covers certain 2010-2012 Volkswagen Golf TDI and Audi A3 TDI models as well as certain 2009-2012 Volkswagen Jetta TDI and Jetta Sporwagen TDI models. Volkswagen will notify owners affected by the issue and work is expected to begin in November. Hit the jump for a look at the recall notice.
The motoring press hasn't had the greatest of relationships with the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta. When the sedan debuted, critics slammed the newest generation as a Walmart interpretation of a model many of us had grown up loving. The nicer-than-expected materials, playful handling and quiet cabin had all been scrapped in favor of a bargain basement price tag wrapped in styling as risky as sunblock in summer. The machine simply felt like the latest casualty of the Volkswagen campaign to become the world's largest automaker. To make matters worse, buyers didn't seem to care.
Gallery: 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI
Volkswagen adds a diesel engine option to the Beetle..
The view from the driver's seat..
Volkswagen will bring four concept versions of its tiny Up! to the Geneva Motor Show. The quirky themed models are merely design studies, and probably won’t go into series production – or so we hope.