VW Unveils New Golf R32; No U.S. Plans

VW Unveils New Golf R32; No U.S. Plans

Volkswagen is ready to field a successor to the most powerful Golf ever - but as of yet, the company has no plans to import the car for U.S. fans. In Frankfurt, VW will bring a Beduin crossover concept and a Golf GT with a turbo and a supercharger - but the powerful news will be the new Golf R32, the fastest version of the new-generation Golf

The performance Golf will be equipped with a 250-hp, 3.2-liter V-6 and 4Motion all-wheel drive. Instead of the six-speed gearbox, customers can choose the DSG dual-clutch transmission. Acceleration from zero to 60 mph will take the manually-shifted version 6.5 seconds, whereas the DSG will reach 60 in 6.2 seconds.

The front end of the R32 is marked with a large aluminum grille and large air intakes. The lower part of the bumper has an extra spoiler lip. Side skirts connect the front with the rear bumper, which features an air diffuser between the two stainless-steel exhaust pipes on each side. A rear spoiler adds down force. Eighteen-inch wheels with 225/40 rubber are standard, as well as a performance brake system and a 20-mm lowered sport suspension. The Golf R32 is badged with R32 on the grille and the rear hatch.

The sporty interior has a unique instrument panel, sport steering wheel, sport seats, and aluminum pedals and a special R32 shift knob. The Sport-Golf comes standard with automatic climate control, a tire pressure warning system, ESP with brake assist, six airbags, and bi-xenon head lights. -Henny Hemmes

Daily Edition: Jul. 27, 2005 by TCC Team (7/26/2005)
New Passat Wagon bows, GM challenges Chrysler ads, Krugman gets it wrong.

Kia Openly Searching for U.S. Site

Kia Motors may join its sister company Hyundai in opening a manufacturing plant in the southeastern United States. That intention, discussed openly by Kia executives in the past, became public on Monday, Reuters reports, when the governor of Mississippi paid a visit to Kia in Seoul, campaigning for the potential plant to be located in his state. Gov. Haley Barbour discussed potential incentives for a new plant with executives, the news agency reports, and was photographed in a Kia minivan. Hyundai later pointed out in a statement that a Mississippi location would be beneficial in that it could share a supply chain with the new Hyundai plant in Montgomery, Ala. Executives said that a decision on the plant could come this year; along with Mississippi, other interested states are said to include Georgia, Texas, and West Virginia.

Spy Shots: '07 Kia Carens by KGP Photography (8/8/2005)
A crossover with America in mind?

Lincoln Plans Two D3 Sedans

Lincoln's future sedan plans could include two vehicles spun from the same D3 platform that has already bred the Ford Five Hundred/Freestyle/Montego trio. Automotive News reports that Lincoln will follow its new Zephyr sedan due this fall with a pair of upscale sedans based on the Volvo/Ford platform that has spawned the Five Hundred sedan. The new sedans would replace the LS rear-driver with a new mid-size sedan from the new platform in 2007. A larger four-door would bow in 2008 and may be dubbed the Continental. Both would be powered by a version of the Yamaha-built 4.4-liter V-8 recently introduced in the Volvo XC90 sedan. Both vehicles would be built in Atlanta alongside a new crossover vehicle coming for Lincoln.

Ridgeline Gets Best Rollover Rating

American Honda says its new Ridgeline pickup has earned the highest rollover ratings for any pickup truck ever tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA has given the Ridgeline a numeric rating that puts it at the top of the list for both its theoretical rollover potential and its real-world rollover resistance. The Ridgeline not only figured better than all other pickups, it did not tip up in the NHTSA road test used to determine ratings. Earlier this year the Ridgeline became the first pickup to score five stars for both frontal and side-impact crashes.

Kurt Busch Leaves Roush, Signs for Penske

Reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion Kurt Busch stunned the sport on Tuesday with the announcement that he has signed to drive for Penske Racing South commencing in 2007. Busch notified his current team, Roush Racing, that he had signed with another team for 2007 and would like to be released from his current contract, which runs through 2006. The team stated in a release that "due to sponsor and team considerations no decision on that request will be made for an indefinite period" and that the team would have no further comment at this time. Later in the day Penske Racing South announced that it had signed Busch to a multi-year contract to drive for the team beginning with the 2007 season, ostensibly to replace retiring Rusty Wallace in the No. 2 Dodge.

This puts Roush in an ironic situation. If you recall, Roush recently signed Jamie McMurray to replace Mark Martin in its No. 6 Ford. McMurray is under contract to Chip Ganassi Racing through the 2006 season. Ganassi has declined to release McMurray from his contract in order to take over the No. 6 in 2006, and Roush has asked Martin to continue for one more year despite his "Salute to You" retirement tour that has consumed all of this season. Now Roush is faced with the same situation regarding Busch.

Teams negotiate contracts with sponsors (and it costs approximately $20m annually to campaign a front-line Nextel Cup car) contingent on the driver who will drive the car and represent the sponsor. Switching drivers is therefore much more complicated that just deciding who will turn the wheel and mash the gas. In Busch's case, his No. 97 Roush entry is a shared-sponsorship deal among Irwin Industrial Tools, Sharpie Markers (Rubbermaid), and Crown Royal (Diageo Spirits). McMurray's current ride is sponsored by Texaco/Shell, Wallace's sponsor is Miller Beer and Martin's current sponsor is Viagra (Pfizer), who will be leaving at the end of the season.

The McMurray/Martin and Busch/Wallace scenarios seem to indicate a new trend in trying to get out of existing contracts. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the coming weeks.

In other NASCAR ride-swapping news, it has been announced that Joe Gibbs Racing has released Jason Leffler from his contract to drive the team's No. 11 FedEx-sponsored Chevy. The car will complete the season with a variety of drivers including two-time series champ Terry Labonte (brother of JGR's Bobby Labonte) and JGR Busch Series pilots J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin. No announcement has been made regarding who will drive the car in the 2006 season. -John F. Gardner

Zetsche's New Task Loaded With Challenges

Dieter Zetsche, acclaimed for the Chrysler Group resurgence that won him the CEO position at DaimlerChrysler, faces another salvage job when he relocates to DC headquarters in Stuttgart January 1, as outlined by Business Week Magazine (August 15) in a story headlined, "Dark Days at Daimler." Outgoing DC CEO Juergen Schrempp will leave Zetsche with a sorely wounded automaker. Intense pressures are rife in the investment community for a sell-off of the Chrysler Group, now that DC's largest shareholder, Deutsche Bank, is divesting its stock interest. Add to that reports that a Chinese automaker has voiced interest in purchasing DC's profitless smart small-car group.

Last week at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City (Mich.) a report confirmed by executives of several major suppliers indicated that Zetsche was propelled hastily into the DC chief executive seat to fend off an offer from GM CEO Rick Wagoner to become the number-one automaker's president and COO - and Wagoner's heir apparent. "Why was Schrempp retired three years ahead of schedule?" a supplier CEO asked rhetorically. "To pave the way for keeping Zetsche away from GM," he replied, answering his own question. GM directors sense that Wagoner is on shaky ground and see no one ready to take over if they have to let him go, he indicated.

Chrysler Group's displacement of the Mercedes Car Group as DC's chief profit producer has also raised discussion. The onslaught of serious quality problems has ensnared the once-proud Mercedes and helped freeze DC's market cap at $38 billion - just $2 billion more than Daimler-Benz and Schrempp paid for Chrysler in 1998. "Zetsche has two basic choices," said Detroit reporter David Welch and Frankfurt reporter Gail Edmondson, who authored the article. "Either ramp up collaboration between Mercedes and Chrysler…or run the two companies as separate entities - laying a foundation for the possible sale of Chrysler in the future."

Among shortfalls under the Schrempp umbrella have been huge recalls for faulty fuel pumps and brake controls; failure of smart sales to reach targets; short work schedules for factory employees, plus long vacations; bland styling on E-Class and C-Class models; an over-extended portfolio ranging from smart to the Maybach supersedan; and a costly vehicle-development venture with floundering Mitsubishi that cost DaimlerChrysler $2.1 billion or more. Chrysler Group, for its part, racked up $963 million in first-half profits while Mercedes lost $1.1 billion in the same period. Chrysler's new vehicles are snapping up sales and shaming Mercedes. DC watchers seem to agree: Dieter Zetsche has a "monumental task" ahead of him. - Mac Gordon

FROM THE SOURCE headlines from the latest press releases

PRNewswire

In conjunction with the launch of its much-anticipated new R-Class luxury sports tourer , Mercedes-Benz designed 750 exclusive Signature Edition R-Class vehicles to help raise funds for Saks Fifth Avenue's KEY TO THE CURE, a women's cancer initiative developed in partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) and its Women's Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). Since joining the KEY TO THE CURE campaign three years ago, Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) has donated over $2 million toward finding new detection methods, treatments, and cures for women's cancers. MBUSA expects to raise an additional $1 million this year through the sale of the Signature Edition R-Class.

Name	Symbol	Last	Change
Autobytel, Inc.	ABTL	4.52	-1.33 (-22.74%)
Autoliv Inc.	ALV	45.18	+0.33 (+0.74%)
AutoNation Inc.	AN	21.19	+0.11 (+0.52%)
ArvinMeritor Inc.	ARM	19.95	+0.27 (+1.37%)
American Axle & Mfr. Holdings Inc.	AXL	28.14	+0.08 (+0.29%)
Ballard Power Systems Inc.	BLDP	4.98	+0.12 (+2.47%)
BorgWarner Inc.	BWA	57.81	+0.87 (+1.53%)
Cummins Inc.	CMI	85.49	+0.82 (+0.97%)
Dana Corporation	DCN	15.37	+0.12 (+0.79%)
DaimlerChrysler AG (ADR)	DCX	51.60	+1.76 (+3.53%)
Delphi Corporation	DPH	5.49	+0.46 (+9.15%)
Dura Automotive Systems	DRRA	4.24
Eaton Corporation	ETN	66.50	+0.61 (+0.93%)
Ford Motor Company	F	10.44	+0.07 (+0.68%)
General Motors Corporation	GM	35.39	+0.44 (+1.26%)
Gentex Corporation	GNTX	17.91	-0.09 (-0.50%)
Goodyear Tire & Rubber	GT	17.84	-0.10 (-0.56%)
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (ADR)	HMC	25.66
Johnson Controls Inc.	JCI	57.47	+0.41 (+0.72%)
Lear Corporation	LEA	39.99	-0.27 (-0.67%)
Magna International Inc.	MGA	78.34	-0.24 (-0.31%)
Motorola Inc.	MOT	21.62	-0.03 (-0.14%)
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (ADR)	NSANY	20.83	+0.21 (+1.02%)
Sonic Automotive Inc.	SAH	24.12	+0.52 (+2.20%)
Siemens AG	SI	78.82	+1.42 (+1.83%)
Sirius Satellite Radio	SIRI	6.704	+0.102 (+1.54%)
Toyota Motor Corporation (ADR)	TM	75.64	+0.70 (+0.93%)
TRW Automotive Holdings	TRW	28.70	+0.21 (+0.74%)
Tower Automotive Inc.	TWRAQ.PK	0.183	-0.007 (-3.68%)
United Auto Group Inc.	UAG	35.16	+0.45 (+1.30%)
Visteon Corporation	VC	9.75	-0.10 (-1.02%)
XM Satellite Radio Hold.	XMSR	33.75	+0.47 (+1.41%)