1996 Volkswagen Bus/vanagon 13 Window Camper Van on 2040-cars

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Volkswagen sketches Geneva-bound concept

Volkswagen has released a pair of sketches that give us our first official glimpse at the company's new concept car, set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show next week. Details are slim – the car doesn't even have a name yet – but we do have some facts about VW's swoopy new showcar. First off, it's a sedan – well, "four-door coupe" – but is said to have a hatchback configuration. Autoblog has also learned that the car will be powered by a hybrid powertrain, using a TSI gasoline engine paired with two electric motors, and uses an all-wheel-drive configuration that's likely similar to that in the recently unveiled Cross Coupe GTE concept. Volkswagen says this showcar uses a new, progressive design language for the brand. And while it sort of looks like a dead ringer for a new CC, we're told this concept is positioned above that model. For now, that's all we know, but we expect a host of other details to be released closer to the car's official debut in Geneva next week. Stay tuned. Related Gallery Volkswagen Geneva Showcar Sketches News Source: Volkswagen Design/Style Green Geneva Motor Show Volkswagen Concept Cars Hybrid Sedan 2015 Geneva Motor Show

2013 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo Convertible

Less Flower, More Power
Pardon our political incorrectness for a moment, but the Volkswagen New Beetle was, undeniably, a "chick car." There was almost nothing that the New Beetle offered to enthusiasts (of either gender), and by the end of its run, VW had even stripped all of the exciting engines from the car's lineup. Looking to resurrect some of the excitement behind the Beetle, the third generation of the iconic car ditched the cuteness when the coupe debuted for 2012, and now the 2013 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible aims to show how much fun drivers can have without a top.
Celebrating almost six and a half decades of the Beetle convertible, Volkswagen is offering a trio of distinct special editions that celebrate three of the car's most popular decades (the '50s, '60s and '70s), but as one of the unofficial cars of the 1960s, it would almost be a crime not to test this version, right? Besides, this is also the only special edition to get the turbocharged engine. While our first drive of the 2013 Beetle Convertible was in the fuel-miser TDI variation, our two-week romp in the 2013 Beetle Convertible '60s Edition came just as peak convertible weather was kicking off down in Florida.

Porsche board members facing another ˆ1.8B lawsuit over VW takeover bid

Back in 2008, Porsche got the bright idea that it could take over Volkswagen in the midst of the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. Ignoring that this was a catastrophic move for the Stuttgart sports car manufacturer that that eventually resulted in it nearly going bankrupt and eventually being taken over by the same company it sought to control, the aftermath has left Porsche Chairman Wolfgang Porsche and board member Ferdinand Piëch in the crosshairs of seven hedge funds that lost out during the takeover and are now seeking €1.8 billion - $2.43 billion US - in damages from the two execs, according to the BBC.
See, investors bet on Volkswagen's share price going down, partially because Porsche said it wasn't going to attempt a takeover. But Porsche was attempting to take over VW, having bought up nearly 75-percent of VW's publicly traded shares. When word broke that Porsche owned nearly three-quarters of VW (which indicated an imminent takeover attempt), rather than go down like the hedge funds bet it would, VW's share price skyrocketed to over 1,000 euros per share, according to Reuters.
Naturally, when you bet that a company's share price is going to drop and it in turn (temporarily) becomes the world's most valuable company, you lose a lot of money, unless you're able to buy up shares before prices jump too much. This led to a squeeze on the stock, which the hedge funds accuse Porsche and Piëch (who are both members of the Porsche family and supervisory board) of organizing.