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German carmakers recall 630,000 diesel vehicles in Europe

Mercedes, Opel, Porsche, and Volkswagen will recall over 630,000 cars in Europe, according to reports Friday. No diesel car has been able to get under the legal emissions limit in real-world driving, according to a German government investigation. While only Volkswagen Group has been using a specific "defeat device", other carmakers have been playing with their exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems. Depending of the manufacturer, the systems have been cut off at a certain temperature. In a specific test cycle the systems operate to fulfill the legal requirements, but in everyday use the limits are exceeded. According to the magazine Der Spiegel, the supplier Bosch is behind this programming and has provided it to all German automakers. The mentioned carmakers have announced recalls, but many other manufacturers are also mentioned by name in the report, including Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Dacia, Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Nissan, Renault, and Suzuki. PSA Group, which produces Peugeot, Citroen, and DS cars, declared yesterday that its offices were raided following an emissions investigation. Related Video: News Source: AutocarImage Credit: Getty Images Government/Legal Green Recalls Mercedes-Benz Porsche Volkswagen Opel Emissions Diesel Vehicles diesel emissions investigation

European jury picks finalists for 2015 Car of the Year

There are countless Car of the Year awards handed out each year, and naturally, Europe has its own way of doing things. Every year, a panel of jurists representing seven publications in seven different languages and seven different countries get together to name their joint Car of the Year. The panel released a list of 32 candidates back in July, and it has now whittled that list down to seven nominees. The list consists of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroen C4 Cactus (shown), the Ford Mondeo, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Nissan Qashqai, the Renault Twingo and the Volkswagen Passat. Of those seven, only two are available in the US – those being the Mondeo (sold Stateside as the Fusion) and the C-Class. The Passat is an entirely different model in North America, the Qashqai isn't offered here, Citroen and Renault don't even participate in our market and the BMW 2 Series is represented here only by the completely different coupe and convertible. Expect the one and only recipient of the 2015 Car of the Year award to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, and while you're waiting, you can place your guesses for the eventual winner in Comments. Featured Gallery 2015 European Car of the Year: Nominees News Source: CaroftheYear.org BMW Ford Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Citroen Renault car of the year nissan qashqai citroen c4 cactus bmw 2 series active tourer

VW issues orders for police version of e-Golf

If the Toyota Prius could be used (in fiction, anyway) as a quiet way to do a drive-by shooting, then a pure electric vehicle should have some silent benefits for the police. It's happening in the real world thanks to the new police-spec VW e-Golf. On display at an international police equipment conference in Germany this week (the Internationalen Fachmesse fur Polizeiausrustung), the 5-0-ready EV has a special paint job as well as the required top lights and digital communications gear. VW says the special e-Golf also stands ready to serve the mission of emissions reduction. The powertrain is the same as what you'll find in the civilian e-Golf, which means an 85-kW electric motor that can zip up to 62 miles per hour in 10.4 seconds and a li-ion battery that provides something between 80 and 118 miles of range. We imagine using this little car for a high-speed car chase will shrink that down a bit. Volkswagen Konzern prasentiert Fahrzeuge mit Spezialausstattung auf Polizei-Fachmesse Internationale Premiere: Der e-Golf* als Polizei-Einsatzfahrzeug Der Volkswagen Konzern prasentiert eine breite Palette seiner Fahrzeugmodelle mit speziellen Polizei-Sonderausstattungen auf der 8. Internationalen Fachmesse fur Polizeiausrustung. Vertreten sind die Marken Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, SKODA und Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge. Die Volkswagen Leasing GmbH komplettiert als Finanzdienstleister den Konzernauftritt. Die Fachmesse findet vom 9. bis 11. September 2014 auf dem Messegelande in Leipzig statt. Als Messehighlight wird der e-Golf als Polizeieinsatzfahrzeug prasentiert. Damit verfolgt Volkswagen auch in diesem speziellen Fahrzeugsegment das Ziel der Schadstoffreduktion. Die Ausstattung umfasst neben der Sondersignalanlage unter anderem Digitalfunk und das klassische Erscheinungsbild in typisch blauer Beklebung. Ausgestellt werden weiterhin ein Golf Variant, ein T5 und ein Audi Q5 als Funkstreifenwagen sowie ein SKODA Octavia Kombi RS und ein SEAT Leon FR in der zivilen Variante. Fachbesucher finden den Volkswagen Messestand in der Halle 1, Stand H02. Der e-Golf uberzeugt mit einem wegweisend niedrigen Verbrauch von 12,7 kWh/100 km. Der Elektromotor leistet 85 kW/115 PS und entwickelt aus dem Stand maximal 270 Nm Drehmoment. In 4,2 Sekunden werden 60 km/h erreicht, nach 10,4 Sekunden 100 km/h. Die Reichweite liegt je nach Streckenprofil, Fahrweise, Einsatz von Komfort- und Nebenverbrauchern sowie Zuladung zwischen 130 und 190 Kilometern.