Archive for Volkswagen

Volkswagen has decided to name its upcoming pickup truck the Volkswagen Amarok. The word Amarok is the Inuktitut name for “wolf”. Inuktitut is the name of the Eskimo-ish Inuit language variants spoken in Canada. Linux users may recognise the name as shared with an open source KDE music player.

In naming the Amarok so, Volkswagen hopes it will emulate the wolf’s personality as the “king of the wilderness and a figure of robustness, endurance, and superiority”, in their own words. At launch time only a double cab version like the Pickup Concept shown above will be launched and it will have Volkswagen TDI engines mated to an all-wheel drive system. A single-cab model will be launched later.

The word Amarok and its association with a Wolf does sound kinda cool, and definitely way cooler than “Taro”, which means a kind of yam and is aso the old name for Volkswagen’s rebadge of the Toyota Hilux.

Look after the jump for more pix of the concept version.

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Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Amarok – vee-dub’s new pick-up

Known has the Jetta Wagon in some other markets, the estate variant of the new Golf has been updated as per the Mk6 Golf hatchback. It’s alternate names are either the Golf Variant, or the Golf Estate. Like the rest of the Mk6 range unveiled thus far, it is largely based on the Mk5 but solves one major problem that the previous generation had – it was too expensive to build.

The Golf Variant starts from 18,500 Euros and is packed with features that can be considered high spec in Malaysia but is standard issue in the standard baseline Golf Variant as standard ESP stability control, 6 airbags, daytime running lights, roof rails, power windows all round, upshift indicator to help you optimise fuel consumption, power and heated outside mirrors, 1/3 to 2/3 split folding rear bench seat and seatback, and climate control.

Volkswagen is launching the new Golf Estate on the market with four gasoline and two diesel engine options, all complying with Euro 5, starting from 80 PS and 102 PS petrol engines, 122 and 160 PS gasoline TSI engines, and two TDI turbodiesels putting out 105 PS and 140 PS. The TSI and TDI engines may be ordered with a DSG transmission.

Look after the jump for a small photo gallery.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Golf Variant gets updated to Mk6

Here’s another car for the Wörthersee Tour 2009, and just like the Polo concept it’s going to be called the Volkswagen Golf GTI Wörthersee 09.

It’s more of an aesthetics modification, with the paintwork done in a shade that Volkswagen called “Firespark Metallic”. The wheels are high-gloss black 19 inch alloys. The rear gets smoked tail lamps. The interior gets some nice detailing too – brushed aluminium trim, glossy black painted frames around the air vents, red borders on the floor mats which echo the red on the front grille, and new combination seats with black and red Nappa. Under the hood is the same 210 PS TSi engine in the Golf GTI.

Look after the jump for more pix.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Golf GTI Wörthersee 09 Concept

Volkswagen will be exhibiting a concept version of what is to be the new generation Polo GTI. They are calling it the Volksagen Polo “Wörthersee 09″ Concept after the Wörthersee 2009 Tour event where it will be unveiled at. The Wörthersee Tour is essentially an annual meeting of Volkswagen and Audi enthusiasts in Europe.

The Polo Wörthersee 09 is done up in a paint that Volkswagen calls Flash Red, with two black stripes extending over the front, over the roof and all the way to the rear. The black wheels you see are 18 inches in size and are from the Budapest design.

Volkswagen must want to keep the Polo GTI engine secret from now (its platform mate Ibiza’s hot hatch versions feature both 150 PS and 180 PS 1.4 TSIs) as this display car is built around a 1.4 MPI Polo and still comes with the donor car’s engine, which puts out a boring 86 PS.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Polo Wörthersee Concept previews GTI

Here’s the hottest version of the Volkswagen Scirocco so far, released just in time for the Scirocco race car’s Nurburgring 24 hour race entry.

This blue devil is the new Volkswagen Scirocco R, and it is powered by a boosted up version of the firm’s venerable 2.0 liter TSI EA888 engine, now producing 265 PS and 350Nm of torque, which is similiar to the motor found in the Audi TT-S and the Audi S3. This engine drives the front wheels only, through an XDS front differential lock.

The Scirocco R gets its own bodykit which Volkswagen says is largely based on the Scirocco GT24 race car. The front bumper features large air intake openings which will provide adequate cooling for the boosted up engine, and the rear features a black diffuser and dual chrome tailpipes. The side profile is dominated by the 18 inch Talladega design alloy wheels.

As always, look after the jump for a full gallery!

Click here to read the rest of New 265 PS Volkswagen Scirocco R unveiled!

Volkswagen has unveiled full details and images of its latest Volkswagen Polo. For those that like how the new Polo has turned out, here’s a huge photo gallery for your enjoyment. The full hi-res versions can go up to a megabyte in size so they’re perfect for wallpapers even on high resolution screens.

The body is longer (+54mm), wider (+32mm) but lower (-14mm) than the outgoing Polo which are differences that are always seen as desirable as it makes the car have a sportier stance. Wheelbase has gone up slightly by 4mm. With the additional width, track is now also wider by 29mm at the front and 30mm at the rear.

The new Polo comes with a total of 7 different engines, of which 5 of them are new for the Polo. The diesel line-up is now completely TDI, which means Pump Duse is phased out even on the low-end models. The Polo can consume as little as 3.6 liters of diesel per 100km with the 90 PS TDI model.

One new engine that was first introduced on the SEAT Ibiza is the new 1.2 TSI, producing 105 PS from a small 1.2 liter turbocharged engine. This baby can put out 175Nm of torque from just 1,500rpm and is mated to a 7-speed DSG transmission. The 1.2 TSI is the most powerful engine for the Polo so far until the Polo GTI comes out, which could feature either 150 PS or 180 PS versions of the company’s 1.4 TSI.

Look after the jump to enjoy the shots and footage!

Click here to read the rest of New Volkswagen Polo: hi-res shots and footage!

Volkswagen has confirmed its Indonesian plant deal. The Indonesian plant will be set up in cooperation with the Indomobil Group, who is the parent company of Volkswagen’s Indonesian distributor PT Garuda Mataram Motor.

The plant will start off as an assembly plant, putting together CKD packs from elsewhere, but full scale manufacturing could begin in 2012, 3 years from now. The plant will churn out the Volkswagen Touran from CKD packs in the hundreds as first. Then Touran output will increase, and eventually other models will also be assembled there. Indonesia is pretty much an MPV market and if the Touran manages to capture the Indonesian MPV buyer’s fancy sufficiently, it could justify the volumes for full-fledged production that goes beyond just putting together CKD packs.

The Volkswagen Touran is an MPV built on the Golf platform. There is also a version with offroader elements called the CrossTouran (shown above), which was brought in to Malaysia last year for some reasons but VW Malaysia did not sell the car. Some pre-owned units with a 1.4 liter TSI engine and DSG transmission went on sale late last year for about RM165k.

Like any car manufacturer with maintaining profitability in their mind, Volkswagen is moving production for certain models out of their home country of Germany. The Volkswagen Up! will be built in 2011 in its Slovakia plant, and in the same year the compact Audi Q3 SUV will begin assembly at SEAT’s plant in Spain. The Slovakia plant currently also builds the Audi Q7, the Volkswagen Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne, so the Up! (Lupo?) should help fill up the capacity as the demand for these SUVs drop in this bad economy.

Unlike the UAW, the worker unions accept that during these troubled times where everyone is taking a hit, they also have to reduce their standards of living – at least they get to keep a job! Because the 13,000 workers at the plant agreed to accept wage scale adjustments and possible pay cuts, the SEAT plant won the Q3 job, otherwise it could have to a number of other plants that the Volkswagen Group has such as Skoda’s Czech Republic plant. In turn, Audi will invest 300 million Euros in the plant to increase annual capacity up to 80,000 units.

The Volkswagen Scirocco GT is now available as an oil burner, with a 2.0 liter TDI engine under the hood putting out 170 PS at a typically diesel 4,200rpm. A high performance diesel isn’t really surprising at all considering even the Mk6 Golf has a 170 PS GTD diesel variant.

While that 170 PS number may not cause much excitement, torque dials in at 350Nm from just 1,750rpm which should give the Scirocco plenty of shove from a stand-still, but being a modern diesel fuel consumption is rated at 53.3 mpg on the combined cycle.

The 6-speed manual version is slightly less polluting at only 139g/km of CO2 emissions and is priced at £21,755.00 RRP OTR while the 6-speed DSG version puts outs 147g/km of CO2 and is priced at a premium because of the twin clutch gearbox, you’ll have to fork out £23,060.00 for it, or about RM 122,150.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Volkswagen is set to open its first South East Asian plant in Indonesia, with the first model to roll out of the new US$47 million (RM166 million) factory to be the Volkswagen Touran, hardly a surprise in a country where MPVs are just so popular.

The WSJ quoted Volkswagen spokesperson Christoph Adomat saying this Indonesian vehicle assembly plant is to be set up as Volkswagen’s first step toward the long-term development of the ASEAN markets. The plant will first only have assembly lines for CKD packs and paint shops, but later full fledged manufacturing could be considered. As Indonesia has trade agreements with Japan, it can also use the Indonesian base to export to that country.

This first ASEAN assembly plant location could have been Malaysia but the leaders involved chose a different path to go down, so let’s see where our own path leads.