1962 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia California Survivor Many Original Parts on 2040-cars

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Volkswagen could outsell GM in China for the first time in nine years

As of the end of November, Volkswagen had sold 70,000 more cars than General Motors in China in 2013, making it appear inevitable that VW will outsell GM there. The feat would return the German brand to the top of chart in China for the first time in nine years, but even the second-place getter won't be complaining too loudly: both automakers sold more than three million vehicles in a market pegged to hit 16 million sales this year.
Volkswagen said it could have sold more cars if it had had more production capacity in China. The arrival of a new-to-China Audi A4, a China-built A3 sedan, the VW Bora and Skoda Octavia, as well as an $18.2-billion-euro investment in the country to construct new factories, means VW should see its numbers grow in 2014. GM's lineup is expanding next year, too, adding four Chevrolet nameplates and two vehicles to its Baojun brand as it tries to get to five million in sales by 2015.
Among other automakers, Ford benefited from good product and woes for Japanese automakers over a territorial dispute with China, outselling Toyota by almost 32,000 units through the end of November. The Ford Focus is China's best-selling vehicle so far this year.

2022 Genesis GV70, raging at VW ID.4 tech and thoughts on a new Lexus LFA | Autoblog Podcast #696

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick. This week, they talk about driving the Genesis GV70, VW ID.4 and VW Taos. They talk about ways Chevy could "fix" the Camaro. James ranked all the James Bond films based solely on their starring cars. Next, they reach in the mailbag and discuss the question, "Do you think Lexus will make a successor to the LFA and, if so, what do you guys think it would be like?" After ruminating on that query, they dip into the mailbag a second time to recommend a sporty crossover to a listener in this week's Spend My Money segment. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #696 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving: 2022 Genesis GV70 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 2022 Volkswagen Taos How we'd fix the Chevy Camaro All 24 James Bond movies ranked only by their cars Mailbag: What would a Lexus LFA successor look like? Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: Lexus LFA | TRANSLOGIC

Recharge Wrap-up: First VW e-Golf in US up for auction, meet Project Ain't Fuelin'

Volkswagen is auctioning the first e-Golf in the US to raise money for Global Green USA. The auction is live now, and bidding goes until 3:30 pm Eastern on October 29. Global Green USA will use the proceeds to help find solutions to climate change, and the winner will get to enjoy emissions-free driving before the car e-Golf goes on sale in November. If you don't live in or near California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont or Washington DC, you might want to sit this one out, as the car will only be available to pick up at dealers in those initial launch states. Go bid now, or learn more in the press release below. Berlin, Germany will use Solaris electric buses for a complete bus line in 2015. The downtown line will run 3.8 miles between Zoologischer Garten Station and Sudkreuz. The transport operator Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) will use four of the Solaris e-buses for the test, each about 39 feet long. The buses use a 200-kilowatt inductive charging system at the ends of the line to recharge in just a few minutes. The government-funded test runs through 2016, but BVG pans to use the electric buses beyond that timeline. Read more at Green Car Congress. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is worried that the Obama administration will use ethanol requirements to influence a Senate race in Iowa. In the midst of a close race against Republican Joni Ernst, Representative Bruce Braley, the Democratic candidate, is urging Obama to reject a cut in the Renewable Fuel Standard. The November election approaches, meanwhile the EPA continues to delay issuing an ethanol requirement for the year, with or without its proposed 16-percent reduction. Rejecting the cut could help get farmers and ethanol producers on the side of Braley. "We are very concerned that the signals we are seeing from the administration is that the political calculations are outweighing sound fuels policy," says API's Bob Greco. Read more at Businessweek. Project Ain't Fuelin' aims to fix up old cars to return them to original fuel economy, and then surpass it. Episode 3 of Valvoline's Under The Hood video series features Daniel Gray of MPGomatic, who is doing just that to a 1999 Honda Civic HX Coupe. He aims to get 50 mpg out of the old Civic by tuning it up, tinkering with the aerodynamics, switching to more efficient tires and other modifications.