Automotive World

The German automaker says that concept is a study for a potential new CC-style SUV that "hints at how a crossover between a four-door coupé and an SUV could look like" -think small BMW X6- while also previewing an evolved form of VW's current design language.

The concept is the first VW model based on the company’s new ‘modular transverse matrix’ or MQB platform architecture to be shown to the public. The MQB chassis will be used in a number of VW Group models ranging from the next Golf to the Audi TT's successor.

Always on the lookout, they have now managed to capture the German firm's people testing a regular version of the next Golf Mk7 complete with its newly styled body.

Albeit heavily disguised, the prototype confirms our suspicions that VW won't mess around with the classic Golf styling cues such as the think C-Column design, though the front-end of the car does appear to be sharper with the lights and grille placed lower than on the current model.

Now that VW has decided to enter the FIA World Rally Championship with the new Polo R WRC, it wants to make sure that it will be competitive from the first race. Consequently, it will enter the championship in 2013, having a full year to test its new car.

Now, Volkswagen has released the first-ever crossroad version of its Passat mid-size model, named the Passat Alltrack. It will receive its world premiere at the Tokyo Motor Show on December 3 and will go on sale in early 2012.

A successful recipe is not meddled with so the (European) Passat Estate-based Alltrack has all the goods one expects in the segment: raised suspension height, stainless steel-look front and rear underbody protection panels and plastic covered wheel arches that house 18-inch alloys.

However, Consumer Reports [CR], asks a rather intriguing question concerning this issue: are the press cars driven by motoring journalists the same as the ones bought by the public?

It's true that, despite quality control, two cars of the exact same make, model and specification that roll out of the same plant may differ in certain aspects such as fit and finish or actual engine output by a few ponies, but those differences are most of the times imperceptible to the human eye.

Earlier this summer, Volkswagen gave Consumer Reports a 2012 Passat from its press fleet for a first drive. CR's Jon Linkov noticed at the time that, unlike the Jetta, the U.S.-built 2012 Passat sedan's trunk hinges were dressed up in plastic.

Still, if you have your doubts, you can hop over the jump and watch this craftsman in some hammer-time action.

VW’s current U.S. network comprises around 600 dealerships. Browning expects that the number will remain stable for the next three to four years, but is adamant that from that point on it will have to increase substantially.

It appears that VW also believes it's time to replace the old-school five-pot with a more modern turbocharged four. Citing two sources from within the German company, Car&Driver reports that the 2.5L unit will soon be dropped from Volkswagen's U.S. range with a new 1.8-liter TSI four-cylinder engine taking its place.

“In the absence of VW’s cooperation and given its failure to do what was agreed, there is no basis for the partnership to continue,” Osamu Suzuki, CEO of the Hamamatsu-based carmaker said today. “We will now work to restore the relationship between Suzuki and VW to its original state as independent parties who do not restrict each other.”

Now, the German automaker wants to reinvent the commercial van and show the road it will follow with the future generations of the Transporter through an innovative concept model called eT!.

Apparently, Volkswagen does not feel the same way. That is why when the time came to freshen up its four-year old Passat CC sports saloon, it chose to delete the “Passat” moniker from its name in order to signal its upmarket move and severe any ties with the mid-size family sedan.

To reinforce its point, VW has made some changes to the styling of the 2013 CC that made its world debut this week at the LA Motor Show.

Developed by Volkswagen R GmbH - that is, the same people responsible for the Scirocco R and Golf R models, the Beetle R is said to show “the potential for an ever sportier version of the Beetle”.

The company also claims that the 200HP turbocharged 2.0-liter of the Beetle Turbo “could offer even more performance, similar to that of the Golf R and Scirocco R”.

The Sport & Style upgrade kit costs €2,250 (about US$3,070) in Germany. It includes bespoke 17-inch alloy wheels on the outside and a raft of standard equipment on the inside such as, a radio-navigation system, heated and electrically adjustable front seats, park assistance, gray Alcantara and black leather upholstery, aluminum trim and sills, and a leather steering wheel with grey stitching.

On the outside, the exterior treatment includes more aggressively designed front and rear bumpers, roof spoiler, a black rear diffuser, R-Line logos, aluminium door sill plates and newly designed 19-inch alloy wheels with 255/40 tires.

The four-wheel drive WRC Polo R that is equipped with a 1.6-liter turbo engine delivering an output of about 300-horses was tested in the vineyards of Veldenz near Trier, which normally plays host to the ADAC Rallye Deutschland.

Hackenberg and Sainz, both with co-driver Timo Gottschalk on their side, were able to drive the car for close to 100 kilometers (62 miles) on the 2.8km-long tarmac circuit.

Like the owner of this Cadillac crossover that was captured on film in an underground parking helping out the driver of what looks to be a previous generation Volkswagen Polo hatchback.

Set to make its world debut at the upcoming 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show later this month, the 2013 Volkswagen Passat packs some select visual scrub ups to bring it up to date with the German brand's more recent offerings.

You can spot the new model by the redesigned front that gets a new chrome-trimmed grille, reshaped headlamps that incorporate a ring of LEDs and a reworked bumper.

"We will start small series production by 2013 – in Germany," Winterkorn told the publication.

On Thursday, Europe's largest automaker, the Volkswagen Group, announced that it has earned more in the first nine months of 2011 than in the whole of 2010.

The company's operating profit surged to €9.0 billion (US$12.5 billion) from January through September, up from €7.1 billion in fiscal 2010 and €4.8 billion in the same period last year, which represents a staggering 86 percent increase.