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Autoblog Podcast #366

Episode #366 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Jeff Ross and George Kennedy of Boldride.com talk about the 2015 Lincoln Navigator, Volkswagen's US market woes, and the drama at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #366:
Topics:

Watch the VW E-Golf get made

If you've ever been on a tour of an automotive factory, you know how mesmerizing it can be to see humans and robots work together to build our four-wheeled friends. The swift automation, the cleanliness, the trained hands deftly fitting pieces together and watchful eyes inspecting every piece of the car, it's all quite impressive, especially if the vehicle is one you, as an observer, are fond of. Even just seeing a fresh, gleaming badge being applied to immaculately painted sheet metal is enough to curl ones toes. Such is the case with this video from of the E-Golf being pieced together in the Volkswagen's Wolfsburg plant. There's no narration or music - just the sounds of production - so it's easy to follow the singular motions that go into the process without distraction, with a slight sense of actually being on the floor. This solo video is only seven minutes long, so it's not quite the epic that was the BMW i3 production series. Therefore, we miss a lot of the initial build, such as pressing the sheet metal, painting, and putting together a lot of the inner workings. What is refreshing to see is how much of the final touches of the electric Golf are done by hand using actual hand tools (and with typical German efficiency). There's even a person riding a bicycle through the factory at one point, which is common at Wolfsburg and also rather quaint. Enjoy the video below, and if you have a suggestion for a good soundtrack to go along with it, sound off in the comments. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

$1.4B hedge fund suit against Porsche dismissed

Investors have canvassed courts in Europe and the US to repeatedly sue Porsche over its failed attempt to take over Volkswagen in 2008 (see here, and here and here), and they have repeatedly failed to win any cases. You can add another big loss to the tally, with Bloomberg reporting that the Stuttgart Regional Court has dismissed a 1.4-billion euro ($1.95B US) lawsuit, the decision explained by the court's assertion that the investors would have lost on their short bets even if Porsche hadn't misled them.
Examining the hedge funds' motives for stock purchases and the bets that VW share prices would fall, judge Carola Wittig said that the funds didn't base their decisions on the key bits of "misinformation," and instead were participating simply in "highly speculative and naked short selling," only to get caught out.
With other cases still pending, the continued streak of victories bodes well for Porsche's courtroom fortunes, since judges will expect new information to consider overturning precedent. If there is any new info, it could come from the potential criminal cases still outstanding against former CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and CFO Holger Härter, who were both indicted on charges of market manipulation.