2005 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5 on 2040-cars

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Volkswagen Group looks to add ridesharing brand to portfolio

Volkswagen is rapidly trying to put the ongoing diesel scandal behind it at the Paris Motor Show with the unveiling of the automaker's electric I.D. Concept. In addition to unveiling the EV, the automaker also announced that it established a yet-to-be-named subsidiary for ridesharing purposes. The new brand will be VW Group's 13th, and will add mobility services to in the form of a carpooling service, similar to that of Uber and Lyft. This will include teaming up with Gett – a cab-hailing startup that operates in roughly 70 cities worldwide, which includes New York City, that was previously known as GetTaxi. Earlier this year, VW invested $300 million in the company. In addition to ridesharing, VW Group claims it is also hard at work on its own shuttle service as the brand aims to become a leader in urban mobility services by 2025. The name of the 13th brand and more information on the subsidiary will be released in November. VW Group also announced plans to give Gett drivers in Moscow, Russia "preferential terms" on a Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Jetta, Skoda Octavia, or Skoda Rapid. VW Group's 13th brand sounds similar to Mercedes-Benz's Vision Van Concept, which the automaker would allow consumers to lease and purchase the vehicle, as well as rent its services on a short-term basis. While the Vision Van Concept is a commercial vehicle that has delivery drones on the roof to aid deliveries, VW Group's shuttle service sounds more like autonomous buses to ferry people around. Now that diesels are dead, Volkswagen has quickly embraced the future, where autonomous and electric vehicles coexist. Related Video: Related Gallery Volkswagen I.D. Concept: Paris 2016 View 16 Photos News Source: Volkswagen Green Paris Motor Show Volkswagen Skoda Autonomous Vehicles Electric vw diesel scandal ridesharing 2016 paris motor show gett

The Volkswagen Group switches official language to English

The Volkswagen Group can't be fairly thought of as entirely German anymore, so the news that the company is switching its official language to English to help attract managers and executives is a rational, if surprising, decision. While many VW Group companies are still staidly German in character and culture, consider the other companies that it controls: Bentley (British), Bugatti (French), Ducati and Lamborghini (Italian), Skoda (Czech), Scania trucks (Swedish), and SEAT (Spanish). Not to mention the large Volkswagen Group of America operation, which constructs cars in Chattanooga, TN. Volkswagen's explicit motivation is to improve management recruitment – making sure the company isn't losing out on candidates for important positions because they can't speak German – and that's inherently sensible in a globalized economy. Particularly considering, like it or lump it, that English is the lingua franca of said global economy. It also should make it inherently easier to communicate between its world-wide subsidiaries and coordinate operations. It's hard to say for sure if this will have any impact on the consumer, although it's easy to see the benefits if, say, VW Group hires some American product planners or engineers and they push for features and designs that more closely suit American needs. After all, the US is a hugely important market for any manufacturer, and so the switch to English almost certainly has something to do with the outsized influence of the US in the global economy. And there doesn't seem to be a downside from a purely rational perspective, although it could mean that the Group's corporate culture becomes less German. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your perspective. Related Video: Image Credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Audi Bentley Bugatti Porsche Volkswagen SEAT Skoda

Meet ZelectricBug, the amazing '63 VW Bug converted to EV power

No word a lie, we here at AutoblogGreen are fans of classic cars. What we are not fond of, however, is the pollution that their inefficient engines create, and so it's great to see our old favorites lovingly up-cycled with electric drivetrains. The ZelectricBug is a beautiful example of how new, cleaner life can be breathed into an old Volkswagen Beetle. Now, we first came across this particular automobile during the Refuel event last summer and we were struck by its cleanly done conversion then. Aside from a few snaps in our gallery, though, we didn't give it the kind of attention it deserves. Fortunately, the good folks over at Roads and Rides have rectified this by turning their pro video camera skills onto the 1963 V-Dub and producing a nice little segment to accompany their write up. Scroll below to see the finished footage and head over to their website for some stills. If all this gives you a hankering for your own Zelectric, the company does have plans to sell to the public starting this summer. If you don't want to wait, EV West, the guys who did the drivetrain work on this car, have conversion kits available for Beetles, as well as a number of other vehicles. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.