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Volkswagen considering a four-door, four-seat XL1

According to a report in Autocar, Volkswagen might have more in mind for the XL1 than mining it for advances to grace the next-generation Golf. Aiming to fight the Honda FCEV due for public consumption next year, we're told VW executives have put a four-door, four-seater version of the XL1 - it could be called XL2 - on the drawing board. The impetus is said to come from the top, with VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piëch intent on staying in the deep end of "super-efficent vehicles."
Autocar suspects the necessary changes could raise the weight of the car from 1,749 pounds to 2,068 pounds, which would make it four pounds less than the 2,072-pound Up! we drove a few years ago. Crucially, however, the mag thinks the extra capacity wouldn't change the two-seater's 310-mile-per-gallon rating, with tech tweaks and the aerodynamic benefit of a longer car offsetting the weight. Speculation is that the back seats would be staggered like the fronts in order to maintain the XL1's overall profile.
We recently heard about another XL1 variant that's gone off the radar entirely, the Ducati-engined XLR that we thought we'd see at the Geneva Motor Show and that was said to be going into production, so this one could go the same way. The biggest hurdle to making such an idea a reality, though, could be the price: the current XL1 costs 110,000 euros ($146,116). If VW really is going to compete with the Honda FCEV and the Toyota FCV - $70,000 in Japan - that might be where it wants to start.

Giorgetto Giugiaro sells shares in legendary styling house to Audi

Giorgetto Giugiaro undoubtedly stands among the great automotive designers of the 20th century, having penned the original Volkswagen Golf and Delorean DMC-12, among countless others. However, the great stylist is now longer an employee or even an owner of the company that bears his name. According to Automotive News, Giugiaro and his son, Fabrizio, sold their remaining 9.9 percent of Italdesign Giugiaro to Audi on Sunday, June 28, and the two resigned from the business the following day. The news about this just came out, though. The exact reason that the two men left the company hasn't been made entirely clear. According to Automotive News, a statement said that Giorgetto Giugiaro went "to dedicate more time to his personal interests." Italdesign Giugiaro remains open and intends to keep growing, though, the same announcement asserts. After stints at Bertone and Ghia, Giugiaro founded Italdesign in 1968. He created some masterpieces there, including '70s wedges like Maserati Merak, Lotus Esprit, and much more. The 2000s weren't so kind and 90.1 percent of the company was sold to Volkswagen Group in 2010. Former Audi design boss Wolfgang Egger took over styling duties there in late 2013, but he only lasted for about a year, leaving in late 2014. Since the sale, Italdesign has continued to work, including with the Gea concept at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show and the very mean-looking Parcour in 2013. Giugiaro's designs are still highly prized, as well. On September 5, Bonhams is auctioning the Maserati Boomerang concept by him and expects to get around $4 million for it. The gallery above offers a few more examples of his and Italdesign's concepts for VW Group over the years.

Volkswagen CrossBlue previews a three-row future, diesel-hybrid power [w/video]

Volkswagen looks to be getting ready to jump into the large three-row crossover game. The automaker has officially pulled back the curtain on the CrossBlue Concept at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.
Designers and engineers penned the machine specifically for the Canadian and US markets, and with a plug-in diesel electric hybrid drivetrain, the hulking five-door, at least in concept form, should offer substantially better efficiency than anything else on the market. The drivetrain pairs a 2.0-liter turbo diesel four-cylinder engine with two electric motors for a combined output of 305 horsepower and a ludicrous 516 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed dual-clutch gearbox handles shifting detail, while one electric motor spins the front wheels. The second motor spins the back axle independently, make the CrossBlue a through-the-road hybrid.
As a result, the crossover can pop to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds. Perhaps more impressively, the CrossBlue can whir around on all-electric propulsion for up to 14 miles at up to 75 mph. Once the diesel four kicks in, the drivetrain can yield up to 39 mpg, though Volkswagen says the hardware can hit 89 MPGe on a full charge thanks to a 9.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Check out the full press release below for more information.