Sergio  Marchionne accuses Volkswagen of exploiting the European crisis to gain market share by offering aggressive discounts, the New York Times writes.  “It’s a bloodbath of pricing and it’s a bloodbath on margins,” the Fiat and Chrysler CEO told the paper. (Read More…)

I see many air-cooled Beetles in self-service wrecking yards these days. In fact, I have always seen many VW Type 1s in self-service wrecking yards, going back to my first junkyard adventures in early-80s Oakland. Like any car freak who came of age in that era, I’ve owned some old Beetles, and I can say from experience that there was nothing super about the Super Beetle. In fact, it’s possible that this ’73 is the Super Beetle that I sold in 1983. (Read More…)

Members of Generation Why will fondly remember the Volkswagen 1.8T powered Golfs and Jettas of the early 2000’s – or if they don’t, they probably knew someone who swore that the turbocharged Volkswagen mill was a gift from Our Lord and Savior Herr Schmaus himself. Yes, it was plagued with ignition issues and a rather unsophisticated character, but you could chip it, broooo (as one Golf MKIV owner so eloquently put it).

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You don’t need a good reason to visit the Mecca of Colorado wrecking yards on the Fourth of July, but we had one: I was tagging along on a mission to grab a couple of dead Rabbits that could be turned into cash at Denver’s ever-ravenous Crusher/shredder. Here’s how the scrap-metal food chain that (mostly) ends in a Chinese foundry gets its roughage. (Read More…)

Volkswagen has published group sales for June and the first six months, and they are better than those of most other European makers. Global deliveries for the half year are up 8.9 percent to 4.45 million. June looks surprisingly good with sales up 11 percent to 798,500. Nevertheless, Volkswagen looks like no threat to the leading positions of Toyota and GM. (Read More…)

Volkswagen wants to be the world’s biggest, most profitable, most innovative, and most loved automaker by 2018, and everybody at Volkswagen has been sworn-in to do their share. US managers promised that they will deliver a million sales a year to the group. It’s a tall order.  To get there, “American consumers will need to buy a lot more new Volkswagens, Audis and Porsches,” Reuters says. (Read More…)

Volkswagen is on track to have their best year in America since 1973 – and all it took was a revamped product lineup that got largely negative reviews from the automotive press.

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They have been together for a while. Behemoth Volkswagen and tiny, but bigger than life Porsche shared technologies and booths at auto shows, Volkswagen generals are in key positions at Porsche. Fitting the German Zeitgeist, they lived together without being formally married. This will be rectified in a few weeks. (Read More…)

Hybrid or diesel? For peak fuel economy in a $30,000 midsize sedan you need one or the other. The Toyota Camry is the most efficient of the five available hybrids (until the 2013 Ford Fusion arrives). If you live in Europe, the diesel world is your oyster. In North America, you have one option for an oil-burning mid-size sedan, the Volkswagen Passat. Which would you pick?

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A report by Alix Partners, an automotive consulting firm, spells out what we at TTAC have been saying for some time; Europe’s auto industry is facing a major crisis of overcapacity, but no steps have been taken to remedy the matter.

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Back in the 1990s, Volkswagen and Trek Bicycles got together for a co-branding deal that shook the world (if you define “the world” as “a couple of zip codes in Marin County“): Golfs and Jettas with sporty-looking upholstery, roof racks, and matching Trek bikes! 15 years later, all but the most fanatical VW and/or bicycle zealots have forgotten the Trek Limited Edition VWs, which makes this an especially rare Junkyard Find. (Read More…)

Five years ago, former and now disgraced Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking started the Porsche SE. It was a holding company, destined to hold the shares of Volkswagen after a successful takeover. Porsche cars are made by Porsche AG.  The takeover never happened. Volkswagen bought nearly 50 percent of Porsche AG, and wants the rest ASAP.  What will become of Porsche SE?

If the shareholders agree – and the shareholder meeting is today –  Porsche SE will become a trading house, selling rare earths, building solar farms, and offering car sharing services, Germany’s ARD says. (Read More…)

Volkswagen Polo is the German automakers entry level offering in India. It is offered in three engines – 1.2-liter diesel 75 BHP, 1.2-liter gasoline – 75 BHP and 1.6-liter gasoline – 105 BHP. It is by no means a hot hatch, but is positioned as a premium hatchback in India. DC Designs is one of the leading after market car designers in India. He has done various projects, including one-off specials for movies. Recently, he worked on the Volkswagen Polo for a client, transforming the vehicle from a 5-door hatchback to a 3-door crossover. (Read More…)

If you read Volkswagen’s global sales report for May, you get the impression that this was yet another great month. Global sales are up  7.8 percent in May. Things don’t look so rosy when you analyze the numbers a bit further. (Read More…)

A few months ago, Volkswagen’s 2018 goal of world domination was in gripping distance. In a record run, and helped by tsunamis and floods, Volkswagen had finished 2011 as world’s second largest automaker after GM and before Toyota. Overtaking GM was seen as a matter of short time. Six months later, the advantage is slipping away. A visibly rattled Volkswagen now musters all energy to stay in the race. (Read More…)