Volkswagen Talk

Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down. The Volkswagen Group has taken the #1 spot from Japanese carmaker Toyota as the biggest automaker in the world. The Vokswagen Group, which now has brands like Porsche as part of its fleet, has produced about 4.4 million units so far in 2009 according to reports.

Toyota is not really that far beyond. The Japanese carmaker’s figures are also very significant but their 4 million vehicles since January is not fit to defend their position against Volkswagen.

The survey was released by the IHS Global Insight. They see that the laws being implemented by the governments of Germany, the United Kingdom, and China are reflected on the performance of the German automaker.

The group further explains that the call of Toyota to cut their production by as much as 50% during the first quarter of 2009 has affected their position in the market and helped how VW faired. Toyota’s output plan is just to produce 7.24 million units until the end of the year compared to their production in 2008 reaching 9.24 million vehicles.

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The Volkswagen Scirocco R was unveiled in Europe recently and is set to hit the showrooms when it goes on sale this summer. Although the potent performance car from VW will not hit the US market, the new generation of VW Golf will be getting the powertrain of the Scirocco R.

The downsizing of engine is all over the auto industry giving cars like the Scirocco R more power without sacrificing fuel efficiency. The lighter engine that also has lower carbon emission provides a better driving experience for car owners.

The next VW Golf following the R32 due for release in the United States early 2010 will be sporting a turbocharged 265 hp 2.0L engine. The four cylinder powerplant is also the heart of the Scirocco R. The previous generation of the R32 runs on a 250 horsepower naturally aspirated powerplant.

The engine of the new gen of Golf R32 is part of the EA113 Volkswagen engine lineup. The Golf GTi, on the other hand, uses the 2.0L engine similar to the basic Scirocco release which uses an engine from the EA888 line.

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Volkswagen, like other car manufacturers, explores the possibilities of going green with its BlueMotion Technologies partners with Toshiba as it looks at greater possibilities for greener energy resources.

Toshiba is like the General Electric of Japan. The company has been producing simple gadgets to laptops, and exploring other energy resources like solar, hydro, and nuclear.

In line with their thrust, Toshiba has long been looking at the hybrid car market and the electric car potentials. The Japanese company has been developing SCIB or a supercharged ion battery that can power a laptop or can be used by cars.

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