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Volkswagen bringing new Touran minivan to Geneva

Volkswagen is bringing a wealth of new metal to the Geneva Motor Show this year. Unfortunately little if any of it is ever likely to reach American shores. There's the new Passat Alltrack, the Golf GTD Variant and a trifecta of new vans: the facelifted Caddy, the revised Sharan and this, the new Touran. Smaller than the Sharan, the Touran is Germany's top-selling minivan and boasts over 1.9 million units sold to date. It was introduced to the VW passenger van lineup in 2003 and was replaced in 2010 with an all-new model. What you're looking at here is the third-generation Touran, based on VW's ubiquitous new MQB architecture. Most obvious is the new sheet metal that makes it look sharper and more in step with the rest of the German automaker's lineup compared to the model it replaces. But there's more to the new Touran than its skin. It's also nearly five inches longer, with most of that length added in the wheelbase to give it a more commodious cabin that's also been updated with the latest equipment and offers room for up to seven passengers. Despite the larger size, it's a good 136 pounds lighter than the outgoing model, so it promises better performance in both its driving dynamics and its environmental credentials. Prospective customers (in markets where the Touran is sold) will be able to choose from a range of three gasoline and three diesel engines ranging from 108 horsepower up to 187, burning as much as 19 percent less fuel than the outgoing model's lineup thanks to features like stop/start engine management and brake force regeneration. There's even a sporty R Line package to give it a little visual aggression. For better or worse, though, the US market will almost certainly be left out: reached for comment, our source at VW USA pointed out that the Touran and Sharan aren't big enough to fill the shoes left by the Routan - but that the upcoming three-row crossover will. Volkswagen presents the new Touran - Germany's best-selling MPV completely redeveloped - More room; smart new design - New engines up to 19 per cent more economical Volkswagen presents the new Touran. The completely redesigned MPV was showcased before an audience of international media representatives at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, not far from the production site where the popular family car is made. The interior of the new model has undergone a significant increase in size and is highly configurable.

VW budget sub-brand stuck in limbo over VW standards, costs

Reports in October 2012 claimed Volkswagen had begun investigating the creation of its own budget brand. This came after having failed to purchase Malaysian car company Proton or produce a meaningful partnership with Suzuki, and after watching Renault-Nissan make piles of euro on Dacia and plot the return of Datsun.
For VW, more important than the question of what to call it was how to build it profitably and in a way that didn't damage the VW brand. According to a report in Autocar, a satisfactory answer still hasn't been found. The hurdle is how to hit "'necessary' quality and safety levels" at the price points needed to make the venture worthwhile. At the time of the 2012 report, German outlet Der Spiegel said VW was trying to get prices down to 6,000 to 8,000 euro ($7,784 to $10,379 US), about two thousand to four thousand euro under the price of the VW Up and in line with the cost of a 6,790-euro Dacia Sandero in Germany.
In March 2013, VW announced, "We want to bring a true budget car to the market in China in the foreseeable future," the most concrete move in that direction after years of planning to make a decision. Working with local Chinese maker FAW, it was predicted that the vehicle in question would appear around 2016, but as of November last year a final vote on it needed to wait until this year because "We are still working on the cost side" and profit possibilities for a car that "has to be durable, it has to be precise, it has to be safe."

Which car should win 2015 World Green Car of the Year?

There were three finalists for the World Green Car of the Year announced about a month ago at the Geneva Motor Show: the BMW i8, the Mercedes-Benz S 500 Plug-In Hybrid and the Volkswagen Golf GTE. With the New York Auto Show upon us and the winner scheduled to be announced tomorrow, we thought it's high time to ask our readers which one should win. There were seven other vehicles named to the finalists list: the Hyundai x35/Tucson Fuel Cell, the Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine, the Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron, the BMW X5 xDrive40e, the Kia Soul EV, the Nissan e-NV200 and the Opel Adam 1.0 Direct Injection Turbo ecoFLEX Start. Would you have named one of these to the top three list instead? POLL 14386429 Green BMW Mercedes-Benz Volkswagen 2015 ny auto show world green car of the year vw golf gte