1979 Volkswagen Beetle - Classic Convertible on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

Audi investing $30.3 billion through 2018 for product expansion

How does Audi plan to reach two million units in annual sales and pay for the 11 new models it's adding to its lineup - an expansion that may include models named SQ2, Q9 and F-Tron? By increasing its investment to 22 billion euros ($30.3 billion US) between now and 2018. That figure represents an increase of about 500 million euros over the previously planned outlay, according to a report by Automotive News, and that could be due to Audi wishing to goad the momentum that pushed it to 1.5 million annual sales two years ahead of schedule.
It's also about staving off the challenges from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Now that BMW has been able to turn some of its attention away from its "i" series of Megacity cars, it will reportedly spend more than planned in 2014 as it continues the rollout of ten all-new vehicles and 15 new-generation vehicles through the end of next year. Mercedes, having been dropped to third in the sales race, is preparing to add 13 new cars over the next six years.
Audi's money is going into technology, into product like the next-generation TT and the Q1 and production expansions and upgrades all over the world. The expenditure represents just under a fourth of Volkswagen's 84.2 billion-euro ($115.7 US) outlay devoted to taking the number-one global automaker title away from General Motors and Toyota by 2018.

Volkswagen hits Gran Turismo with GTI Supersport concept [w/video]

As impressive as are the production hot hatches that Volkswagen offers based on the Golf, the German automaker cooks up even more impressive conceptual versions. Like this latest design for Gran Turismo 6. The GTI Supersport Vision Gran Turismo is like the GTI you can pick up at your local VW dealer, only more so. The design brings the VR6 back to the GTI, this time packing a (hypothetical) 503 horsepower and 490 pound-feet of torque, channeled to all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and 4Motion all-wheel drive. In the virtual reality of GT6, that's said to be enough to propel this digital concept to 62 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds and on to a top speed in excess of 186 mph. Naturally VW's designers gave the GTI Supersport concept the show to accompany the go, gracing the shape with more vents, more extreme aero, a wider stance on 20-inch wheels... the works. All that is said to give it a lower center of gravity and a power-to-weight ratio of 5.5 pounds per horsepower. Of course the GTI Supersport isn't the first hot Golf concept VW has dreamt up in recent years. There was the earlier GTI Roadster concept also revealed for the Vision Gran Turismo series, the Golf R 400 concept that may yet see production, and the bonkers GTI W12 650 concept with its mid-mounted twelve-cylinder engine. This one may never see production, but at least gamers will be able to drive it remotely on PlayStation. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Wolfsburg, 14 April 2015 Next level: Volkswagen presents new digital supercar - GTI Supersport Vision Gran Turismo excites PlayStation fans - Race car with 503 HP now available for downloading Volkswagen is expanding its GTI fleet and sending a new supercar onto the digital race circuit. The engine roaring under the bonnet of the GTI Supersport is a 503 HP VR6 TSI coupled with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DSG). The design of this digital supercar combines the Volkswagen icon with sheer racing design. Following last year's roadster, another version of the GTI, with its long racing tradition, can now head for the starting line on Gran Turismo®6, exclusively on PlayStation®3. The first impression of this racer already shows that the Supersport is what fans want and is designed for racing. 665 Nm of torque catapult the virtual GTI to 100 kilometers per hour from a standing start in only 3.6 seconds.