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2023 New York Auto Show Live Updates: Hyundai's surprise, Nissan's super stand, '24 Wrangler

The 2023 New York International Auto Show shifts into high gear Wednesday, April 5, and our reporters are already in the city, with events unfolding even as we speak. We'll being seeing cars in person, interviewing automaker insiders and snapping photos of vehicles and all the other oddities that pop up at an event like this and we'll be giving you live updates and color from the show floor along the way.  Ram, Hyundai, Subaru, Kia, VW and Jeep are all expected to show something new this week, and other automakers are known to be hosting off-site events that may produce news — expected or otherwise. Genesis has already revealed its GV80 Coupe, for example, along with the fact that it has been confirmed as a production model. And we're just getting started.  Read on below for our observations from the show floor and points beyond: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.     Green New York Auto Show Genesis Hyundai Jeep Kia RAM Subaru Volkswagen Concept Cars Electric Future Vehicles

VW takes world sales crown from Toyota for first half of 2015

Despite uncertainty in major markets like Russia and China, Volkswagen is wearing the global sales crown for the first half of the year to overtake Toyota. Through the first six months of 2015, VW sold 5.04 million vehicles, which only narrowly beat its Japanese rival's 5.02 million, Reuters reports. The half-year trophy also placed the German brand one step closer to the goal of being the world's largest automaker. VW can't just cruise through the second half of 2015 to continue wearing the crown, though. The company is a major player in China, and that might start to be a disadvantage soon. Auto demand there is expected to be weak for the rest of the year, which could mean dire effects for companies around the world. According to Reuters, the Western European market shows few signs of a sudden surge, either. To turn things around, VW is working on a massive realignment to be more responsive by organizing its 12 brands under four separate holding companies. One factor in VW's favor is that Toyota is facing its own sales struggles across the globe. In the last fiscal year, the Japanese automaker had growing profits but actual volume was down. At the time, the company predicted a drop to 8.9 million vehicles for the current fiscal period. According to Reuters, Toyota has had problems growing in emerging markets and dealing with higher taxes on small vehicles in Japan. For all of 2014, Toyota held the sales trophy with 10.23 million sales, and VW was in second place with 10.14 million. General Motors came in third with 9.92 million. The year was the first time that VW or Toyota had ever surpassed 10 million vehicles over the stretch of a calendar. Related Video:

How VW's hyper-efficient XL1 will influence the next Golf

In 2007, the European Union mandated fleet average CO2 emissions of 158.7 g/km. For 2015, that figure will drop to 130 g/km, and the target for 2020 is an ambitions 95 g/km. Thanks to some German politicking, that target will be phased in from 2020 to 2024, but it will still apply to 80 percent of passenger cars in that first year. In US miles per gallon, that's the equivalent of going from about 35 mpg to 42 mpg to 57 mpg. The current Volkswagen Golf is rated from 85 g/km of CO2 to 190 g/km depending on model - and zero for the e-Golf, so for the next-generation MkVIII hatch due in 2019, to meet the goal, Volkswagen engineers will need to introduce a bunch of new tricks. According to a report in Autocar, VW be mining its hyper-efficient XL1 for some of them.
Predictions for the next Golf include a variable-compression engine, an electric flywheel and an electric turbo, along with taking greater advantage of coasting. Volkswagen could be getting help from Audi with the electric turbo and variable-compression engine and electric turbo, with Audi already having shown off the former and brand technical boss Ulrich Hackenberg confirming the VW Group is working on the latter. It's possible the flywheel system could also have the mark of The Four Rings: Autocar mentions a British system that Volvo is testing, but the R18 e-tron Quattro racer has been using one for years.
The need for such features is because the company won't be able to net enough future gains from just aerodynamic improvements and advanced materials. As price will be a factor (the regulations are expected to "add hundreds of euros to the cost of building a car"), adding much more aluminum or carbon fiber is an unlikely option. We're told the next generation won't be longer or wider than the current car, and being Europe's most popular model, VW doesn't want to make a big bet on futuristic aero, but the report says the MkVIII will "likely" have "the most aerodynamic treatment yet seen on a production vehicle," the area where lessons learned from the XL1 will truly be seen.