Posts for 'Volkswagen' Category

Right when I heard the solid ca-chunk of the driver door clamping shut and felt my bony rear wrapped in a firm, bolstered seat, I wasn't sure where all the negative talk of Volkswagen quality control was coming from.

Issues with vibrations, rattles, and electrical problems – especially on VW's highest-selling models, the Rabbit and Jetta – have been well-documented in the industry. It's no secret Volkswagen hasn't been near the top of J.D. Power, but then again, part of those surveys involve people complaining about window switch locations, rather than answering if those switches actually work.

I like where the switches are on this white 2009 Jetta TDI, but more importantly, I like how this compact sedan drives like a much more expensive car. I’ve made a helpful seat-of-the-pants rule for all road tests: if a car can handle Boston’s potholes, crudely-filled patches, bumps, dips, and expansion joints without scraping the wheel wells and unsettling the occupants, then the suspension is truly well-sorted.

Read the complete story

If at first you don't succeed, try again, they say.Volkswagen, which had a flop with its Phaeton sedan when it entered the luxury market, has scaled things down a bit, sported other things up a bit, and come up with a winner for those interested in the "near luxury" market: the 2009 Volkswagen CC.

The big Phaeton was an impeccably finished, imposing automobile. But nobody wanted that hefty price tag and a Volkswagen badge on the hood to boot. So the car was quickly withdrawn from the U.S. market.

Read the complete story

The 2009 Volkswagen Golf you see here will not become the U.S. market's Volkswagen Rabbit until around 2012. Still, with the Golf/Rabbit the most important vehicle in the Volkswagen lineup, its success in Europe and elsewhere is crucial to the automaker's fortunes.

 The 2009 Golf takes cues from the not-for-U.S.-consumption Scirocco with headlights more fourth-generation Golf than the one sold in U.S. Volkswagen dealerships.

Read the complete story

If Volkswagen AG decides to build its U.S. assembly plant in the South, the German company will join other foreign automakers that are increasingly turning the region into a hotbed of car manufacturing.

The South offers automakers ample highway and rail systems and proximity to the large market of U.S. consumers. But its main attraction: Existing auto plant workers, even those who are victims of other industries exporting jobs, have rejected overtures by the United Auto Workers."Foreign-owned automakers have been a tough nut for the UAW to crack, and the South is particularly difficult," said Harley Shaiken, a University of California, Berkeley, professor who specializes in labor issues."That is without question an important part of their location decision," he said.

Volkswagen's plant will be part of the company's strategy to increase its presence in the U.S., where the maker of the Jetta, Golf and Beetle holds just 2 percent of the market.VW executives have narrowed their site options to Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan. All three states are offering financial incentive packages. The automaker's representatives and economic development officials won't discuss the site search.A Tuesday meeting of the company's management board in Frankfurt, Germany yielded no decision on where to build. Volkswagen's supervisory board, the equivalent of a U.S. board of directors, is to meet July 15, with an announcement expected soon afterward.

Read the complete story

The latest edition is based heavily on VW's Iroc concept from the 2006 Paris Auto Show and is slated to go on sale across Europe this summer, with prices starting under $40,000. The styling hasn't changed dramatically, although details like the front end have become a bit more conservative as VW has honed the final production shape.

The Golf-based coupe seats four and has roughly the same stance and overall proportions as the GTI, although it is a bit longer, lower and wider.

At launch, the Scirocco will be equipped with a 197-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter TFSI engine, with a choice of six-speed manual or DSG dual-clutch gearbox. Later in the year, VW will offer a common-rail diesel and two other direct-injection gasoline engine options, along with its acclaimed seven-speed DSG.

Among the car's standard safety features are ESP, ABS and six airbags. The Scirocco also is being fitted with electromechanical steering and VW's adaptive chassis control system, which offers the driver a choice of three predetermined settings: comfort, normal and sport.

The New VW Tiguan SUV

Availability

The VW SUV is finally here for real, after a long waiting and watching it in concept form in Namibia. The new VW SUV will be available in the UK market from February 2008, after its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show September 2007

Capability

With new 4x4 Volkswagen’s aims to provide driving agility.
Tiguan’s terrific off-road ability.
4MOTION four-wheel-drive system.

Main Rival Cars
Toyota’s RAV4, Nissan X-Trail, Land Rover Freelander, BMW X3 and Audi

Special Features
Tiguan’s off-road ability.
approach and departure angles that can tackle off-road obstacles most comfortably.
A remarkable choice for two engines i.e. a 140bhp 2.0-litre turbodiesel and a 150bhp 1.4TSI.

In the automaker's lineup and a sales generating machine, Volkswagen's Golf is arguably the most important vehicle.  A sixth-generation car, even a grainy, rear-shot only view of it caught our attention.

The new Golf will be readied by late next year and will likely be a 2009 model suggestion by early Intel. To sell cars under $15,000, given the push by VW in the U.S.  we'll probably have to wait until as late as the 2012 model year before we see a version of it, but expect a facelift of the present U.S. car shortly after the new Golf hits European streets.The new car which reveals some of the new styling, including a substantially re-worked rear hatch area. Final styling was reportedly overseen by Volkswagen's lead designer and rising star Walter de Silva.

The Passat wasn’t exactly a sport sedan, but it drove creamily and predictably and, in gethe Passat quickly became the darling of the young, the hip, the discerning. neral, came off as a bargain luxury car, like a first-growth bordeaux for the price of a supermarket cabernet.

For a very long time, the Passat sat on the sidelines of the American family-sedan playing field. It was seemingly content, in mid-1990s fourth-generation guise, to dangle its optional, gutsy VR6 engine in front of Volkswagen devotees and to snag a few four-cylinder buyers who got lost on the way to the Honda showroom.

The new Passat’s standard 2.0-liter, direct-injection turbocharged four has more horsepower and torque than the old Passat’s optional 2.8-liter V-6. So, for our Four Seasons test, we chose a 2.0T model over one of the pricier V-6 trims, kept options to a minimum, and ended up with a modestly priced car just shy of $25,000.

The rear-engine Volkswagen is coming back. Here's what we know so far: Volkswagen's reinvention of its iconic people's car will have its engine situated on top of the transaxle and a radiator in the nose. Three wheelbase options and two body styles will be offered worldwide, but only two variations will come to the United States: a 130-inch-long Beetle reincarnation aimed at the Smart ForTwo and a no-frills, four-door notchback likely to be marketed as a smaller, cheaper Jetta. Pricing will be in the $10,000-to-$14,000 range.

Sources deep inside VW's headquarters have indicated that the company currently is working on a rump-motored, water-cooled small car, one that mimics the original Beetle in both layout and purpose.  Although third-world countries will receive a two-cylinder engine (emerging markets may even get a one-cylinder unit), U.S. cars will likely be powered by a turbocharged and direct-injected three-cylinder.

Volkswagen long ago abandoned the people's car demographic for richer climes. Most recently, Piëch's grand vision for the brand lay in cars like the failed Phaeton. Now it's back to a bottom-of-the-market, rear-engine econobox.We don't doubt that a rear-engine layout can be made to work safely in an inexpensive small car. One executive has admitted that the company plans to "install [stability control] to address handling issues." But we're still not sold on the rear-engine idea.

Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today that the limited edition Triple White New Beetle convertible is now available at dealers. Only 3,000 customers will have the opportunity to own this truly special edition.

The Triple White New Beetle convertible features a unique Campanella white exterior, a white interior, and white convertible roof boot. The Triple White New Beetle convertible takes its colour palette from the original Super Beetle convertible of the late 70s. This modern day rendition includes 17-inch Oktopus alloy wheels, a three-spoke leather wrapped steering wheel, white leatherette seats and center armrest. Also included are black carpeting, floor mats and door panels along with Sirius Satellite Radio. Another distinctive feature of the Triple White New Beetle convertible is the special front seat headrests ingrained with the New Beetle convertible icon.

Read the complete story