Archive for Volkswagen

Volkswagen used to have a pickup truck called the Volkswagen Taro back in 1989, which was essentially a badge engineered Toyota Hilux. The project was discontinued in 1996. Now Volkswagen is developing the second generation Volkswagen Taro, and it is expected to be unveiled at the end of 2009.

Volkswagen had exhibited a pickup truck concept in the early 2000s called the Volkswagen Advanced Activity Concept. It looks pretty much like the Touareg but with a pickup body form. It had an adjustable air suspension which at its highest point allows for 390mm of ground clearance, and at its lowest, 280mm.

The original Taro used a 2.4 liter Toyota diesel engine but the Volkswagen AAC used the big twin turbodiesel direct injection V10 also found in the Touareg, mated to a 6-speed Tiptronic auto and a permanent all-wheel drive system.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Advanced Activity Concept: New Taro?

The new Volkswagen Passat CC made its debut at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. It is a 4-door sedan based on the Volkswagen Passat platform, but with a different body styling which has a much more sportier, sleeker roofline, intended to give the car a 4-door coupe look ala the Mercedes Benz CLS. The new Passat CC is 50mm lower to the ground compared to the standard Passat, and is 30mm longer.

The new Volkswagen Passat CC will have the new 1.8 liter TSI inline-4 with 160 horsepower as one of its engine options, and the top of the line will be a 300 horsepower 3.6 liter V6 FSI engine. The venerable 2.0 liter TFSI from the Audi A4 and the Golf GTI will also join the lineup later.

It features a few technologies such as Dynamic Drive Control, which adjusts the suspension damping and power steering assistance characteristics to suit the driving pattern. Another feature is Park Assist, which is a self parking system where the Passat CC takes care of steering control and the driver only has to accelerate and brake to ease the car into a parking spot. ACC Automatic Distance Control automatically brakes and accelerates within a speed range input by the car driver, and also avoids frontal collisions using a radar sensor.

The new Volkswagen Passat CC is targeted at the North American, Western European and Japanese markets. It will make its first debut in Q2 2008.

More photos after the jump.

Related Links:
Volkswagen Passat CC High Resolution Photo Gallery

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Passat CC - V-Dub’s own CLS

The latest car spotted at JPJ Putrajaya is the Volkswagen Eos, essentially a two-door convertible version of the Volkswagen Golf Mk5.

No indicative launch date so far, but it’s interesting to note that the Volkswagen Eos was so popular in Canada that Volkswagen Canada decided to cancel its introductory campaign because it did not make any financial sense to go ahead with it anymore.

Even before any form of advertising was put up, the Volkswagen Eos had begun to disappear from dealer lots around the country. All of the 2007s stock had nearly sold out from pure word of mouth alone.

Related Posts:
Volkswagen Canada experiences the power of word of mouth
Volkswagen Eos Cabriolet - Details, Photos

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According to German publication Auto Motor und Sport, Volkswagen is seriously considering a factory in Thailand with at least a 100,000 units capacity. Total investment would be about 614 million Euros (RM3 billion), and the site would be somewhere in Samut Prakan.

A firm decision has not been made yet, and there has been previous reports of Indonesia also being considered.

Related Posts:
Volkswagen to build assembly plant in Indonesia
Volkswagen looking at Indonesia instead
Volkswagen Group Malaysia to restructure wholesale operations

Source

The new BorgWarner DQ200 7-speed DSG gearbox is now available in the Volkswagen Golf and the Volkswagen Golf Plus, mated to either the new 122 horsepower 1.4 liter TSI engine or the 1.9 liter TDI engine.

Just a recap - the new 122hp TSI is a variant of the twincharged 170 horsepower variant that only uses a single turbocharger without a supercharger. Volkswagen announced it together with the DQ200 DSG earlier this year, and intends to replace the 1.6 liter normally aspirated FSI engine with it.

The new DQ200 DSG is a dry clutch gearbox, as opposed to the Volkswagen’s existing 6-speed DSG’s wet cluch system. For more technical information on the new gearbox and the new TSI engine, read the related posts linked below.

Related Posts:
Volkswagen announces new 7-speed DSG gearbox
New 122hp turbocharged 1.4 liter and 7-speed DSG from Volkswagen

Volkswagen AG will be remodelling the group’s wholesale operations in Malaysia through Volkswagen Group Malaysia, as the initial plans for the group to tie up with Proton in a strategic stakeholding failed.

“Following the recent developments in the Proton-Volkswagen discussions and the Malaysian Government’s announcement, Volkswagen is currently reviewing its business strategy for Malaysia. Volkswagen considers the government’s counsel on this matter to be of utmost importance and value in ensuring the well-being of all Volkswagen local stakeholders, especially its customers. Volkswagen continues to believe in the potential of Malaysia’s automotive industry as well as the country’s continuously growing importance and influence in the region,” said Volkswagen in a statement.

From what I see, VGM could take two paths - one is to bring in CBU units through AFTA benefits from wherever they decide to place their regional plant, either Thailand or Indonesia, and the other would be to start up CKD assembly in Malaysia.

The last European manufacturer who looked into the CKD business here was Peugeot, and they seem to be happy with the standard of Naza Automotive Manufacturing’s plants up in Gurun, so that might be a good idea. Other choices include Inokom in Kulim, and Oriental Assemblers in Johor.

Source

The Volkswagen space up! blue is the third in the range of New Small Family concepts that include the Volkswagen up! concept and the Volkswagen space up! concept. The blue suffix on this concept refers to the fuel cell powertrain that the space up! blue uses instead of the space up!’s FSI engine.

The electric motor in the Volkswagen space up! blue can be powered by one of two sources - an array of lithium ion batteries that can be charged by a conventional electrical outlet, or a high temperature fuel cell. If both energy sources are combined, the space up! blue can travel up to 354km thanks to the fuel cell’s 250km extra capacity.

The high temperature fuel cell is lighter and cheaper than a conventional fuel cell, and was developed at a dedicated research center in Germany. This fuel cell is located at the front of the car, while the batteries are under the rear seats.

More photos after the jump.

Related Posts:
Volkswagen space up! Concept
Volkswagen up! City Car Concept

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Volkswagen development chief Ulrich Hackenberg says the next generation 2012 Volkswagen New Beetle would get a new design. He did not say how radically different the new design would be, but he pointed us to how the designers of Volkswagen’s Audi brand did the successor to the Audi TT, a modern car with an iconic shape.

Related Posts:
Future Volkswagen New Beetle design sketches

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While we’re on the topic of turbodiesel Touaregs, remember that story about how a Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI pulled a specially modified Boeing 747-200? Well, I found a video of the event as well as a decent reenactment.

The plane is not a real 747-200, but a specially modified version called the 747-XXX and it was built for use as a prop in the James Bond film Casino Royale. The plane has had its two outer engines replaced with outboard wing tanks, and its inner engines has been replaced with mocked-up dual pylon-mounted engine pods under each wing.

So while this plane isn’t really as heavy as a real 747-200 ready to fly, it’s still a decent feat. Watch the video after jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Touareg V10 pulls a jumbo jet

This behemoth is the Volkswagen Touareg R50, and it made it’s world premiere at the Australian International Motor Show sometime in October this year. It is the third model to carry the Volkswagen R label, joining the ranks of the Golf R32 and the Passar R36.

The R50 moniker refers to the 5.0 liter V10 TDI turbodiesel under its hood, producing 350 PS at 3,500rpm and 850Nm of torque from 2,000rpm.

This is an increase in both power and torque over the normal V10 TDI engine which makes a lower 313 PS and 750Nm. The result is a 0 to 100 acceleration time of 6.8 seconds, and it goes up to a top speed of 235km/h. Highway cruising will use 9.6 liters of diesel per 100km, while combined usage uses 12.6 liters.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Touareg R50