2014 Volkswagen Jetta Tdi on 2040-cars

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McLaren F1 poaches Jost Capito from VW WRC

The executive shuffle continues at the McLaren Formula 1 team with news that Ron Dennis has lured Jost Capito away from his position as head of Volkswagen Motorsport. Capito will become the CEO of McLaren Racing, replacing Jonathan Neale who took the position on an interim basis at the beginning of 2014 to replace Martin Whitmarsh. Whitmarsh, who had been with McLaren for 24 years and spent five of them as F1 team principal, left the company after being moved out of the CEO position. Neale, on the other hand, who has been with McLaren Racing since 2001, is moving over to the newly created position of COO of the McLaren Technology Group. Capito left the Ford SVT division in 2012 to run VW Motorsport, and has spent the past three years shepherding the brand's World Rally Championship to three consecutive driver's and manufacturer's titles. Before that, his lengthy racing resume includes developing high-performance BMW engines, winning the Dakar Rally as a co-pilot, executive positions with Sauber in the early nineties, and managing Ford's WRC team. Dennis, who first approached Capito last summer, called him, "extremely impressive, competitive, and ambitious." The Woking team has some great parts, but it hasn't been able to make the most of them comprehensively since the end 2012 season. Autosport says that Capito has the ability to make the best pieces work together, which will probably be his biggest challenge at McLaren. Capito will remain at VW until a successor is found. News Source: The GuardianImage Credit: AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau Motorsports McLaren Volkswagen Racing Vehicles F1 jost capito

2014 Volkswagen XL1 [w/video]

World's Most Efficient Car Impresses, Not Without Compromises
Among our many duties at the recent Geneva Motor Show, we were offered a pretty exclusive drive in the new Volkswagen XL1 hyper-efficient plug-in diesel hybrid. There is so much that is interesting about a car like this reaching production from a major automaker that it's tough to know where to begin.
First off, you should know that - at least for this generation - there is absolutely no chance in Albuquerque that this "1-liter vehicle" (i.e. a vehicle that can burn just one liter of fuel to travel 100 kilometers, or 62.1 miles) will ever make it into the hands of North American customers. We, too, were having trouble imagining an XL1 in typical American traffic, surrounded by comparatively massive pickups and SUVs. The driving experience had us recalling a couple of weeks in 1999 when we drove the then-revolutionary Honda Insight hybrid on US roads. We keenly remember the feeling of being very small and vulnerable, even as we felt proudly green in our 61-mpg Tochigi pod. Thing is, the Volkswagen is smaller still, and nearly as light despite its more complex drivetrain and safety features.

VW confirms development of 10-speed dual clutch, 134-hp/liter diesel

Each year, the Vienna International Motor Symposium showcases some of the up-and-coming technologies automakers are engineering for the use in passenger cars, and Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn revealed some big developments VW is working on for its future products. Winterkorn discussed a multi-faceted approach that VW is looking to reduce its fleet fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
Some of the bigger news he discussed included a "high-performance" diesel engine that will produce 134 horsepower per liter and a 10-speed DSG automatic transmission. While no specific applications were mentioned, we can only hope this is for the Audi R4 we keep hearing about.
Another topic he touched on that caused us to perk up our ears was had to do with VW's plug-in hybrid technology. While we know the PHEV versions of the Audi A3 and Porsche Panamera are on the way, Winterkorn also said that these two models will be followed up by Golf, Passat, Audi A6 and Porsche Cayenne plug-in models. Scroll down for a press release highlighting the automaker's future fuel-saving initiatives.