Volkswagen Talk

Volkswagen brings the concept of global platform to another level as it brings this summer a modular platform which will be used for sedans, SUVs, microcars, and crossovers for its biggest brands. The move of Volkswagen is the most ambitious so far among automakers who already shae platforms between brands and segments.

Experts foresee that by 2017, the MQB which is used for the Audi A3 will be seen in about four million units annually or about half of the production of Volkswagen. The move will cut the costs, production time and make the firm more adaptable to the trends in the market.

The platform will standardize the positioning of the engine and the distance between the pedal box and the front axle. Depending on the model, the wheelbase, length, and width can adjust with no problem.

The use of the global platform brings a ton of advantage but also brings a ton of risks. The concept is basically untested and might be a big liability in case there will be a need for a massive recall. Come 2017, the MQB will be used in 40 models under the brands Audi, Seat, Skoda, and Volkswagen. The VW Golf and the Audi A3 are the first units to use the platform and will go in sale this year in Europe and in the U.S. by next year.

Car manufacturers are looking for ways to decrease their cost of production and also boost the profits as they widen their market globally and Volkswagen had to come up with a bold move looking at the scale of its line up of 200 models.

The MQB platform started taking shape in 2007 as Ulrich Hackenberg became a board member of the R&D of VW after having developed a modular base for Audi.

There are two more global platforms in place, the MSB which is used for sports cars with rear engines and the MLB which is utilized for bigger units that have longitudinally mounted powerplants.

VW is the second highest ranking carmaker in terms of sales following GM. Experts forecast that VW will be selling around 4 million vehicles using the MQB platform by 2017.

During the auto show in Detroit back in 2009, Volkswagen unwrapped their BlueSport Concept. The representatives of the company then said that the midengine VW roadster was heading to the production line and might also be used as a platform for a baby Boxter of Porsche and a version for Audi.

The VW BlueSport actually just needed some minor tweaks from its form as a concept vehicle before it hit the production line and it is perfectly an excellent base for a rear wheel drive, open top version for potential buyers. This was the story coming from the top engineer of Volkswagen during an interview.

Audi has declared that a smaller two-seater should be added to its range as the R4 while Porsche is still figuring out if making a baby version of their Boxster will hurt their sales.

For Volkswagen fans though comes a bad news as the company decided to put on hold the production of the BlueSport Roadster because of the forecast that it might not sell enough to make the vehicle viable. The issue here is not with the design nor the technology but the volume of sales that is needed to be met so production makes sense.

In order to green light from the headquarters of the big bosses of VW, the BlueSport Roadster must at least be delivered to 50,000 garages every year. The sales team of VW does not see the car to be a big hit in the US which is the biggest roadster market in the world, so the project is on hold.

Even though the car manufacturer wants to increase its sales by as much as 300%, the company realizes though that releasing a niche product is not among their top priority at the moment. The focus will be on the core models of the VW lineup and not the portfolio models like the VW BlueSport Roadster.

German carmaker Volkswagen just announced its official tag price for the 2012 Beetle in the UK. The new VW Beetle can be yours starting at £16,490 OTR. The Beetle will be arriving in showrooms in the UK by next spring but the company is accepting orders now.

For their British market, Volkswagen will provide two petrol engine options including a 1.2L TSI which gives out 105 horsepower and the 1.4L TSI that is capable of giving out 160 HP. The former is coupled with a DSG transmission with seven speeds while the latter is linked with a 6-speed manual transmission.

There will be 3 trim levels to choose from: Design, Beetle, and Sport. The Beetle and the Design trim that uses the 1.2L engine will have a tag price of £16,490 while the Sport or Design trim using the 1.4L powerplant will be priced at £19,470.

The Beetle based model will have an air conditioning, central locking with remote, DAB radio and CD system, plus the Isofix seats as standard.

The Design variant will have 17 inch rims, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, alarm system, fog lights in front, RCD 510 sound setup, multifunction steering wheel with leather treatment, and dashboard and door panels following the color of the car’s body.

The top of the line Sport trim will have 18 inch rims, tint, sports seats, cruise control, parking sensors, climate control, and gloss black treatment for the door panel, dashboard, and door mirrors.

VW promises to enhance the range of the Beetle in the UK market with the introduction of more powerplants which will include the 105 HP diesel 1.6L TDI BlueMotion; 140 HP 2.0L petrol TSI engine; and the 1.2L TSI engine that is linked with a 6-speed manual gearbox.

The Volkswagen 2011 Touareg is deemed to be the most innovative VW car since the existence of the brand. It is expected to take the definition of SUV into a different level and different interpretation. The 2011 Touareg will achieve all this while losing about 460 pounds and getting an engine that’s 20% more efficient.

The Hybrid variant of the VW Touareg can breeze on the road at 50 km/hr on a pure electric drive with zero emission. One of the diesel variants, the V6 TD that has a 7.6L now has the best numbers for its segment of the market in Europe.

Despite the shedding of pounds, the 2011 Touareg has better torsional rigidity by 5%. The aerodynamics of the car was improved too with this version being lower than its older sibling among other elements added to its design.

All of the variants are available with 8-speed automatic transmission which returns better number at more than 2 liters per 100 kilometers. The Touareg is being offered with the 4Motion variant which can handle climbing 31 degrees and another variant which has the Off-road program that activates everything needed to handle more challenging inclines and descents.

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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 R32 is a tough act to follow when you look at the hatchback market. The VW Golf R32 was an offering complete with great handling, excellent features, and affordable pricing. It is a big shoes to fill but the 2010 Golf R from VW is out to conquer the world as it was recently launched during the auto show in Frankfurt.

The 2010 Golf R is a hot-hatch that will sport the same engine used by the Scirocco R. The new Golf R can output 265 horsepower and about 258 lb-ft of torque. Looking at the figures, the 2010 Golf R has the most powerful engine in the production of the Golf range.

The R32 successor can speed up from 0 to 62 mph in just 5.5 seconds when packaged with the DSG dual-clutch system. The manual transmission version is just a blink away doing it 0.2 second slower.

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