volkswagen

Say hello! to your future Polo, Vento, Jetta, Laura, Passat, etc – VW’s MQB platform unveiled

by Paul Joseph February 2, 2012 Featured

Here at IAB, we generally focus at the outcome rather than the components. However, something very interesting was unveiled yesterday that will change the way one of the biggest manufacturer in the world makes its cars. Yes, we are talking about the MQB platform from VW which will underpin pretty much everything the VW group has to offer. The MQB or Modular Transverse Matrix platform will unify all the products that fall under the VW group. The platform is so important for VW that they call it – “the backbone of light and safe cars.” It is an extremely flexible platform that can be stretched, or shortened to fit anything from a Golf to a Passat. The biggest advantage of this platform is the uniform position of all motors (diesels, plug-in hybrids, electrics, gas engines) and transmissions. This will provide an unbelievable efficiency and flexibility to the VW group. Also, the company can now manufacturer VW, Skoda, Seat and Audi models on the same assembly line thus gaining massive economies of scale. This platform will underpin almost 3.5 million small and mid-sized cars a year. Thus, VW plans to spend billions of dollars to upgrade its plants to the MQB platform. This will lower production costs 20 percent and cut assembly times 30 percent. The MQB platform is a foundation for the next generation Polo, Vento, Jetta, Laura, Passat, Superb, etc. Almost 40 models in the VW group will use this platform in the coming years. [Source: AutoExpress.co.uk ]

Tagged as: article, china, ford, volkswagen, vw mqb

0 comments Read the full article →

Volkswagen presents kitted-up Polo Match special edition in Germany

by Paul Joseph January 26, 2012 Featured

The only special edition model India’s received since its early 2010 release is the ‘Breeze.’ But back in Europe, the Polo’s had a few of them already and the the recently introduced ‘Match’ edition has every feature one can ask for. The ‘Match’ models have traditionally meant more for less. They are popular in the UK and this year, VW is using the same concept in Germany. The Match edition can be bought on the Polo, Golf, Golf Plus (crossover), Golf Variant (station wagon), Jetta, Scirocco (premium hatchback), Sharan and Touran (MPV models) which saves Polo customers, believe it or not, 2.15 lakh rupees when the options are added individually! On the Polo, the Match edition offers 15-inch Stratford alloy wheels, ‘Victory’ striped interiors, leather trimmed steering wheel, aluminium inserts on the dashboard, rain sensing wipers, park assist system, door mirrors finished in glossy black, chrome tipped front grille and ‘Match’ badges. There are plenty of engine options to choose from. Customers can opt for the 1.2-litre 59 and 69bhp, 1.4 84bhp, 1.2 TSI 89 and 104bhp petrol engines, and 1.2-litre 74bhp, 1.6 89 and 104bhp TDI units. An LPG variant producing 81bhp is also listed. If you are not satisfied with the equipment levels, Volkswagen offers much more as optional extras. The ‘Match Plus’ package includes 16-inch ‘Mistral’ alloy wheels, reading lights, make-up lights on the sun visors, sunroof, locking alloy wheel bold and space saver spare wheel. The Match editions start at 9.45 lakh rupees (for the 1.2L 59bhp variant) and stretches till a whopping 12.69 lakh rupees for the top-end model with a 1.2 TSI engine paired to a DSG gearbox. Airbags and ABS are standard features on the German Polo. [Source - PoloDriver.com ]

Tagged as: volkswagen, vw polo match

0 comments Read the full article →

Vokswagen’s Polo is Europe’s second best seller; Polo Vivo hits the jackpot in South Africa

by Paul Joseph January 25, 2012 Featured

The Volkswagen Polo is making headline news around the world as it finished 2011 as the second best selling vehicle in Europe. You must have already guessed the best selling vehicle, its without doubt the Polo’s elder sibling Golf that India unfortunately doesn’t have in its lineup. The Golf has yet again proved that practicality tied together with fun can lead to impressive results. VW India has been spied testing the Golf in Pune but once told IAB that for its price, Indian customer is looking for a sedan. Having won the highly prestigious World Car of the Year award, the 6th generation Polo notched up impressive numbers in 2011. 356,490 units of the new Polo were delivered to customers in Europe. Throughout 2011, the Polo was a constant feature in the ten best selling cars, categorized monthly, in Britain. Here in India the Polo and Vento proved to be a deadly combination with the duo notching up 74k+ units. Volkswagen has more reasons to rejoice as a similar kind of event was observed in South Africa with the Polo Vivo (last generation model) which ended December as Volkswagen South Africa’s most exported model and the country’s top-selling passenger car of the month. The Vivo took second place in November and selling it has been a very rewarding experience for VW South Africa since start of sales in March 2010.

Tagged as: volkswagen, volkswagen polo, vw polo

0 comments Read the full article →

Volkswagen previews India-bound five-door Up! through photographs

by Paul Joseph January 24, 2012 Featured

Finally the day has come when VW has unveiled the 5-door version of the popular budget car – Up!; Not that you should be surprised because you saw it before much thanks to SRK’s renderings . The VW Up! made its debut at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show in a three door version. The five-door Volkswagen Up! has the same dimensions as the three-door version. So the wheelbase is the same 2.42 m along with the 251-liter boot. The only difference is the rear doors which open wide and allow easy boarding. The rear interior space hasn’t been touched. It offers the same 79cm of legroom and nearly a meter of headroom at the rear. Not surprisingly, the five-door model offers the same engine lineup comprising of a 1.0-liter three-cylinder gasoline unit available with 60PS (59HP) and 75PS (74HP). The engine accelerates from 0-100km/h in 13.2 seconds and gives a fuel economy of 23 kmpl. We won’t be the only ones to think Shoeb’s version is more stylish than VW’s The 5-door version is expensive than the 3-door version by around $600. The bookings will start in Germany on March 6 with first deliveries beginning in May The Up! makes maximum sense for the Indian market. However, VW India is staying mum about the launch of the new Up! in India. One VW India official told IAB that the red 3-door model spotted in Delhi was not its property and could have been imported by a private party or a rival car maker to study its construction. Although the company is not denying the launch of the Up! in India, neither is it giving any concrete information about the time frame of launch. [Source: WorldCarFans.com ]

Tagged as: 5 door vw up, volkswagen, volkswagen up

0 comments Read the full article →

2014 Volkswagen Passat comes back into focus

by Paul Joseph January 23, 2012 Featured

The VW Passat, more famously known as the car that can park itself, was launched in India in March last year. Loaded with technology to the brim and coupled with the brilliant Audi A4 Mk5 Golf platform, the Passat has consistently mopped three digit orders since the launch month after month. The new Passat looked like it was a full redo but in truth it was a reskinned model with no changes to the skeleton. However, an all new Passat is due in 2014 and we are watching the developments with hawk eyes. We have already brought you the information that the successor will ride on the MQB platform that will underpin most VW, Skodas and Audis of the future. The latest piece of info is from Auto Motor und Sport which says the new platform will help shed a lot of weight. The 2014 Passat will only weigh around 1,400 kg. The shared platform will also help to reduce the costs, so VW can load up even the basic model with an advanced infotainment system and more electronic aids. A turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder will replace the 3.6-liter V6 petrol. The engine will also have cylinder deactivation and retain start/stop system to keep nature lovers happy. There are also reports of plug-in hybrid variant with a 1.4-liter TSI petrol engine combined with an electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack. The hybrid variant will produce 170 PS (125 kW / 168 hp) and travel up to 50 km on electricity alone. [Source: Auto-motor-und-sport.de ]

Tagged as: 2014 vw passat, volkswagen

0 comments Read the full article →

Have you seen the new Volkswagen Polo commercial?

by Paul Joseph January 17, 2012 Featured

You’d have to be the Almighty’s most favorite child and the world’s most passionate petrolhead to come back the next birth to continue using your car. You need to have these two requisites to be considered for a re-entry. Volkswagen India believes that this is possible and gives the Parsi community something to cheer about in its new commercial that we recommend you watch right now!

Tagged as: commercials, volkswagen, volkswagen polo

0 comments Read the full article →

Volkswagen Vento headed to Malaysia

by Paul Joseph January 17, 2012 Featured

The philosophy of adding a boot to a hatchback is not new for India. Maruti-Suzuki did it with the Dzire and they were quite successful with it. In fact, the project was so successful that Maruti is planning to launch a second generation Dzire based on the new Swift with a much smaller boot. It is safe to say that in some cases the boot reflects the state of mind than a the need for additional storage space. Another such successful story is the VW Vento (essentially a stretched and booted Polo hatchback). Now, the VW Vento is headed for Malaysia to repeat the successful story that it wrote in India. Paul Tan reports that a huge consignment of VW Ventos have landed on the Malaysian port and will be on sale shortly. Unlike India, the Vento will be called Polo in Malaysia, like its Russian counterpart. It will be powered by the same 1.6L MPI engine that does its duty in India. The 1.6 liter petrol engine makes 105 PS and 153Nm of torque at 3,800rpm. Diesels not being so popular in Malaysia, the 1.6L TDi is not heading to Malaysia. We wonder if these cars were shipped from Chakan, Maharashtra. The two production centers for the Vento are India and Russia. We can’t single out a reason to ship Ventos from ten thousand miles away when it is available right across the street. Source: Paultan.org

Tagged as: spy pictures, volkswagen, volkswagen vento

0 comments Read the full article →

Volkswagen snatches the #2 position from Toyota

by Paul Joseph January 16, 2012 Featured

VW plans to dominate the world by 2018 are surely on track with the company claiming to be the number 2 manufacturer of the world. According to Car Advice, VW sold 8.16 million units in 2011 whereas Toyota sold 7.9 million thus making VW the second biggest automotive company (by sales). The total gain in sales amounts to a whopping 14.3-percent surge as compared to the auto giant’s 2010 sales. The key growth markets were India and China. An impressive 2.25 million vehicles were shipped in China and deliveries in India more than doubled to 111,600 units. There is surprise twist in the story as well. GM, predicted to be the numero uno manufacturer of 2011, has not yet declared its sales figures. If GM does not manage to shift more than 8.16 million, the VW’s goal would be accomplished 6 years early. VW plans to be #1 manufacturer of the world by 2018 by shifting over 10 million units annually. [Source: CarAdvice.com.au ]

Tagged as: toyota, volkswagen

0 comments Read the full article →

Leaked – Volkswagen Up! 5 door model patent sketch

by Paul Joseph January 14, 2012 Featured

The Volkswagen Up! may have disappointed fans of German engineering by giving the Auto Expo a miss, but here’s medicine to help them move on – sketches of the five-door version of the Up! have been leaked. It’s not a top secret file as VW showcased a concept five-door at the Frankfurt Motor Show with flared wheel arches and fitments. The three-door Up! is penetrating Europe and UK in a handful of variants such as Take Up!, Move Up!, High Up!, etc. These markets get a 1L petrol engine in two outputs paired to a five-speed manual transmission. The production model does not have contrasting differences and the minor changes to the bumpers and tail lights featuring a more practical design were expected to turn up during the transition from concept to production. These changes keep costs in check, mighty important considering this is Volkswagen’s cheapest offering. The Up! in the five-door form bows in at Frankfurt this year (or earlier) and thereafter heads straight for the Indian market. The model allows further capacity utilization at the VW Group’s production facility in Chakan, Pune. The Polo’s 1.2-liter diesel engine is hugely important if the current customer behaviour prevails. So where is the price going to start? We think this is the ideal vehicle to challenge Maruti in its own game. If Volkswagen can price it similarly to the Beat, they have another Polo in their hands. [Source - JokeForBlog.blogspot.com ]

Tagged as: spy pictures, volkswagen, volkswagen up 5 doors, vw up! 5 door

0 comments Read the full article →

Volkswagen Up five door variant sketches hit web

by Paul Joseph January 13, 2012 Featured

Volkswagen Up , the small car from Wolfsburg made it’s maiden appearance in Frankfurt last year. Few months later, the three door version of  Up made commercial debut in European markets. Those who track  Volkswagen Up story is well aware of the fact that, the car has important part to play in company’s journey to World’s No-1 position. So Up is expected to make it’s debut in almost all parts of the globe including India (in various names). As we said in our previous post, Volkswagen has to develop a five door version of Up to cater market like ours. Here is the sketches of  Volkswagen Up five door variant which may expect to hit our market by 2014. The five door variant of Volkswagen Up is exactly similar to the three door variant. But the production version featured in the sketch misses some features we saw in the concept. The concept version of  five door Up had a more stylish front and rear bumpers. The bumper has been now redesigned to  make it more cost effective and easy to manufacture unit. The tail lamp pair has also undergone some changes. The tail lamp in the production version looks more practical one compared to the concept. We expect more such cost cutting steps from Volkswagen to keep the sticker price under control. Volkswagen India was supposed to use their erstwhile partner Suzuki’s manufacturing set up to produce Up here. But ongoing tussle between both the partners made it difficult for them . Volkswagen may consider setting up an all new plant for manufacturing Up in India. The group may even consider bringing their low cost arm, Seat to India for fulfilling their small car dream. Remember, Seat is also ready with Mii , their own version of  Volkswagen Up. If everything goes as per plan, we will able to spot Volkswagen Up in India by 2014. Do you think Germans will be in a position to challenge Suzuki’s monopoly in the small car segment..? Now another small story, the much awaited 11th Edition of New Delhi Auto Expo has been concluded. We were expecting some  glimpses of Volkswagen Up there. But that did not happen, meanwhile we had posted a set of spy images of a three door Volkswagen Up from  Mumbai . So now the question remains unanswered is, who is the owner of that red hot Volkswagen Up? An individual imported for sheer ownership pleasure or the competition brought for tearing it down..? Stay with us for more updates. Source:- Joke for blog Volkswagen Up five door variant sketches hit web is originally published on : Wheelosphere – Indian Car and Bike Blog

Tagged as: spy images, volkswagen

0 comments Read the full article →