TheCarConnection.com has already previewed a Euro-spec Golf VI and gushed over its features and interior details. But don't get your hopes too high expecting that the decidedly upscale feel or top-tech powertrains will arrive to the U.S. in the most affordable version of the next-generation, 2011...Read More»
Porsche ranks as most appealing nameplate for the fifth consecutive year. That's according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2009 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, which was just released. Yet Porsche only had one top-placing model in Power's study, the Cayenne. Across all...Read More»
Volkswagen has set a lofty goal of tripling VW and Audi sales in the U.S. by calendar year 2018. To help meet that objective, the company began construction of a new factory facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee in May. Now comes word that the company is also investing a whopping $1 billion to expand...Read More»
In remarks to the automotive and environmental press last week in Seattle, Volkswagen of America president and CEO Stefan Jacoby said that while the automaker is considering electric vehicles along with other alternatives, he does not see EVs or advanced plug-ins becoming a significant portion of...Read More»
The Germans are coming! And they're bringing a sedan! Journo Diana T. Kurylko recently interviewed the CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, Stefan Jacoby, who had a few details to share about the company's plans for a new four-door model. Here are a few of the highlights, which we've put in bullet...Read More»
Mega-bonuses have dried up, McMansions are going empty, and three-car garages and credit cards can no longer be obtained on request. Jeez, this recession sure doesn't feel as much fun as Fox, CNN and the New York Times make it out to be. Like us, you may have always dreamed of owning a new BMW, or...Read More»
As I get a little older and live through more Michigan-induced financial hardship, I have matured enough to understand the true joy of driving a vehicle that is both practical and competent. Not that I wouldn't love to have a Lamborghini Gallardo land in my driveway with the insurance paid … but...Read More»
Record-breaking couple John and Helen Taylor just added a new Guinness world fuel economy record to their impressive list of 36. Their new record is for average fuel economy while driving across the 48 contiguous United States, which they achieved by averaging 58.8 mpg in an '09 Volkswagen Jetta...Read More»
A few months ago, Volkswagen of USA told TheCarConnection.com that the Scirocco hatch-coupe would not come to the U.S. The concern was that the new car would cut into the sales of the GTI. VW may be changing its mind--or maybe it's just teasing all those Scirocco nuts who crave the return of the...Read More»
Making even its recent V-6, aluminum block diesel (E320 BlueTEC, ML 320 BlueTEC, GL320 BlueTEC, and R320 BlueTEC) a thing of the past, Mercedes-Benz is set to rattle the diesel world with its new generation of oil burners this fall. The first engine in the family to be released is a four-cylinder...Read More»
Piggybacking the announcement of its Gen VI Golf (Rabbit here in the states), VW installed its 1.6-liter common-rail diesel into a version of that vehicle to achieve 74.3 mpg on the European cycle (that equates to roughly 62 mpg in U.S. terms). A bit smaller than the 2.0 TDI in its newest U.S...Read More»
Australians John and Helen Taylor are one frugal couple. In 2006, they set a Guinness World Record by driving around the world using 24 tanks of fuel in a Volkswagen Golf. They hope to best the current U.S. cross-country miles-per-gallon record on a drive across America with one of VW's newly...Read More»
Last week we told you the Volkswagen Jetta diesels were eligible for a federal tax credit because they get such good fuel-economy ratings. This morning it's Mercedes-Benz that has good green news to share, as its diesel lineup is also eligible for similar credits. The VW and Benz vehicles...Read More»
The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI comes standard with a lot of things--among them, a $1,300 tax credit that pays financial homage to its high fuel economy. Volkswagen says the new TDI models, Jetta and SportWagen, are both eligible for the IRS' Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle income tax...Read More»
We won't do a full test drive of the new 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI CleanDiesel until mid-September. But how to deal with the diesel itch? How about driving one at a showroom, where testers are available like the"free" bottles of cologne over at Macy's? VW has a monumental task ahead of it...Read More»
Last week when GM vice chairman Bob Lutz spoke with TheCarConnection.com about the Saturn Aura, he explained that the plan had been to "short-cycle" the current Aura and bring this new Opel Insignia to the States as a Saturn. Now with Saturn being re-evaluated--could it be all small cars once...Read More»
Your diesel love will come cheap from Volkswagen, according to a press release today from cosmopolitan Herndon, Virginia. Volkswagen of America says the new diesel versions of the Jetta sedan and Sportwagen will be priced in the low to mid-$20,000 range. The Jetta's new diesel engine is a 2.0-liter...Read More»
Volkswagen hopes to rekindle a little small-wagon love with the launch of the new Sportwagen, which pops onto shoppers' radar in July of this year. At the press introduction in Washington, D.C., this week, VW execs said that the European flair and compact-car appeal of the new Jetta-derived wagon...Read More»
It's the moment that old-school greenies and hardcore cheapskates alike have been waiting for: the second coming of the Volkswagen diesel engine. And it's coming at the end of the summer, VW execs reminded us at the Washington, D.C.-area press drive for the new Jetta Sportwagen. Though we were...Read More»
