Volkswagen News
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Night vision systems for cars have been around for several years but they're still a rarity among mainstream models. That's starting to change and Volkswagen is the latest mainstream brand to introduce the tech. VW is introducing it as an available feature in its redesigned Touareg SUV, which sadly isn't coming to the United States. (We get the Atlas instead.) An infrared camera integrated at the front of the vehicle picks up heat coming from a living organism. It can detect animals or pedestrians more than 400 feet away and shows them as a highlighted yellow object in the digital instrument...
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Doing grown-up things with the do-it-all 2018 VW Golf GTI
No one car can do it all, but the 2018 Volkswagen Golf GTI comes pretty close. VW’s hot hatch is almost as happy snaking through twisty canyon roads as it is doing adult stuff like hauling home lumber for a weekend project from the corner big box hardware store. Slap a roof rack on top and...
Andrew Ganz -
Report: Former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn facing US charges in dieselgate scandal
A Michigan federal court has charged former Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn with defrauding the U.S. for his role in the VW diesel emissions scandal, according to a report from Reuters. Winterkorn resigned in September 2015, shortly after the company admitted that its 2.0-liter turbodiesel...
Kirk Bell -
Watch the full pilot for “Edd China's Garage Revival”
Former “Wheeler Dealers” mechanic Edd China is back with a new show whose pilot episode went live Tuesday. Called “Edd China's Garage Revival,” it sees China doing what he does best: wrenching and hammering on old cars while explaining in great detail the key restoration...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
VW and Chinese partner launch SOL EV brand in China
Volkswagen has joined numerous other automakers by offering a China-only brand dedicated to electric cars. On Tuesday, VW introduced the SOL brand for electric vehicles at the 2018 Beijing auto show. The first vehicle from SOL is (shocker) an SUV called the E20X. SOL was born from VW's joint...
Sean Szymkowski -
Next-generation VW Golf getting mild-hybrid system
Volkswagen has already laid out aggressive plans for a future full of battery-electric cars, but the German car brand will also electrify nearly every vehicle in its lineup in some way. VW announced Thursday that it will begin with the next-generation Golf. Specifically, the eighth-generation Golf...
Sean Szymkowski -
Automaker family portraits are like most of ours. See that mohawk in the back? That’s the Honda Civic Type R. The blue-face scoundrel flipping the bird? Hello, Ford Focus RS. Every family has someone bound for the pokey—even short stretches, but the 2018 Volkswagen Golf R skips hard time because it’s effectively the VW GTI’s twin. Sure, the Golf R hits the gym—not the yard—compared to the GTI, and it could be more fun. But in a world of wild wings and drift modes, the Golf R stands out because it doesn't go too far. It’s familiar and familial, so does...
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VW ID R Pikes Peak racer accelerates faster than an F1 car
Volkswagen on Sunday took the covers off its new ID R electric race car at a special launch event in Alès, France. This is the car that VW will enter in the 2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, currently scheduled for June 24. The ID R will contest Pikes Peak’s Electric Modified...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volkswagen to install 2,000 fast chargers across US by end of 2019
Volkswagen and its Electrify America unit announced plans to install 2,000 fast chargers at 500 stations across the country by the end of 2019. VW's announcement on Wednesday included news that it also plans to install numerous chargers at 100 Walmarts in the U.S. The plan is part of VW's agreement...
Sean Szymkowski -
VW to return to Pikes Peak with ID R electric racer
Volkswagen’s motorsport division has been busy since ending its dominant run in the World Rally Championship at the close of the 2016 season. VW confirmed last year it will be returning to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 2018, with 2017's winner Romain Dumas set to hop behind the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
VW tests automated parking system at German airport
We've seen a handful of concepts to help alleviate the stress of parking in congested areas, but Volkswagen has taken things a step further. The automaker announced Friday that it will begin trials for an automated parking system at Hamburg Airport in Germany. The concept is exactly what it sounds...
Sean Szymkowski -
VW Group ousts CEO, names Diess as replacement, announces restructuring
Volkswagen Group has ousted CEO Matthias Müller and replaced him with Herbert Diess, previously CEO of the Volkswagen brand within the larger 12-brand corporation. The move is part of an effort to reorganize the company to do business more efficiently, the company said Thursday. VW Group will...
Kirk Bell -
The Volkswagen Group on Tuesday issued the statement that it is in the process of reviewing its senior management structure and that this could result in potential personnel changes, including the position of CEO Matthias Müller. The short statement said the VW Group board of directors is also looking at changing specific responsibilities of senior personnel and that Müller has shown a willingness to contribute to the changes. Germany's Handelsblatt has learned from its sources that the decision to replace Müller has already been made. His successor will reportedly be Herbert...
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VW teases potential US pickup truck with Atlas Tanoak concept
Might a unibody pickup truck from Volkswagen be on the cards? Quite possibly. The German automaker on Wednesday unveiled the Atlas Tanoak concept at the 2018 New York auto show. It's a mid-size pickup based on the Volkswagen Group's flexible MQB modular platform, and while there are no plans for a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2019 Volkswagen Arteon gets racy looks with R-Line package
It's not the Arteon R performance variant Volkswagen has hinted at in the past, but the 2019 Arteon R-Line package does spice things up visually. VW announced on Tuesday that it will debut the racier R-Line variant at the 2018 New York auto show next week. What does the R-Line package net buyers?...
Sean Szymkowski -
VW Atlas Cross Sport concept ditches 3rd row for sharper look
Volkswagen in 2019 will add a second SUV to the production line at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Atlas Cross Sport concept unveiled Tuesday is a direct preview of it. The concept is a shorter, more rakish version of the Atlas, which is also built in Chattanooga, and this time there's...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2018 Volkswagen Touareg revealed
Volkswagen revealed a redesigned Touareg on Friday at a special ceremony in Beijing marking the automaker's presence in China, which it calls its second home. The new Touareg represents the third generation of the nameplate, and it's one that's been pushed much higher upmarket to reflect its new...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volkswagen plans to launch one electric car per month starting in 2022
Volkswagen will open the floodgates in 2022 and launch a new electric car every month as it works aggressively to electrify its portfolio, the automaker said. VW CEO Matthias Müeller told journalists Tuesday in Berlin that 30 electric cars will be launched by 2025, according to Autocar...
Sean Szymkowski -
When the current-generation Volkswagen Beetle runs out its current lifecycle, it will be the end of the road for the nameplate. The German automaker confirmed plans for a next-generation Beetle are off the table and the car will exit production, according to an Autocar report published this Tuesday. The news follows rumors of an all-electric Beetle that had swirled for months. VW was reportedly looking at using the MEB platform, the automaker's dedicated electric-car architecture, to create a next-generation Beetle similar to the original. It would have been rear-wheel drive with its...
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VW CEO says a diesel renaissance is coming
Many executives are gone. More than $30 billion dollars have been spent in legal battles, retro-fits, and recalls. Yet on Monday we learned that Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller believes there is a coming "diesel renaissance." "Diesel will see a renaissance in the not-too-distant future because...
Jeff Glucker -
Volkswagen ID Vizzion electric sedan unveiled at Geneva auto show
Volkswagen used this week's 2018 Geneva International Motor Show to unveil the ID Vizzion concept, a large electric sedan that is more or less a replacement for the Phateon that ended production two years ago. The ID Vizzion will go into production by 2022, Volkswagen said, and is intended to show...
John Voelcker -
VW explains the steps to full automation in cars
Volkswagen will unveil a concept for a large, electric sedan with fully self-driving capability at next week's 2018 Geneva International Motor Show. The concept doesn't preview a specific model currently in the pipeline, though elements from its design may influence a new Phaeton due around 2020...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
How did Volkswagen's diesel defeat device work?
Every media outlet in the world covered Volkswagen's tangled web of lies and deceit as "Dieselgate" opened up and spewed the truth nearly three years ago. Its consequences are ongoing today, and VW's future trajectory has been changed forever. But, how exactly did VW's "defeat device" work? Jason...
Sean Szymkowski -
Volkswagen settles Dieselgate lawsuit ahead of trial
Volkswagen AG settled a lawsuit with more than 300 owners days before a potentially embarrassing trial in the U.S., Reuters reported last week. According to the report, Volkswagen reached a settlement Friday with David Doar, a North Carolina man, and similar owners after a judge rejected a request...
Aaron Cole