2007 Volkswagen Passat 2.0t Wagon 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

VW CEO lost his job over buggy software that delayed new models

It says a lot about the state of the auto industry and where it's going that software problems have cost the CEO of a carmaker his job. Volkswagen ousted Herbert Diess as chief executive officer after severe software-development delays set back the scheduled launch of new Porsches, Audis and Bentleys. This was untenable considering buggy software postponed the debut of VW’s initial rollout of ID models, and customers are still having to drop off their cars at the dealer for updates the company has struggled to make over the air. Sure, Diess also didnÂ’t do enough to make allies and became increasingly isolated due to his hard-nosed leadership style. In his push to transform the company into an electric-vehicle leader, he repeatedly clashed with labor leaders by warning VW was losing out to Tesla and needed to cut thousands of jobs. But failures at the carmakerÂ’s software unit Cariad ultimately eroded DiessÂ’s support from the powerful Porsche and Piech family that calls the shots. Back in December, VW overhauled its management board, stripping Diess of some responsibilities while tasking him to turn around Cariad. While thereÂ’s been a lot of re-arranging since then, Diess didnÂ’t manage to make the issues go away. Discord at Cariad has pushed back the rollout of important new models including the electric Porsche Macan, a high-volume sport utility vehicle for the division thatÂ’s planning an initial public offering in the fourth quarter. AudiÂ’s new line of Artemis EVs has been delayed by around two years to 2027. And VWÂ’s ultra-luxury brand Bentley may not be able to go all-electric by the end of this decade as planned because of the software issues, Automobilwoche reported earlier this month. “Taking over the ship at Cariad seems to have been DiessÂ’s downfall,” said Matthias Schmidt, an independent auto analyst based in Berlin. VWÂ’s solutions to challenges tend to reflect its status as an industrial behemoth: itÂ’s able to throw lots of money and people at its problems. But modernizing the company for the digital age is going to take bringing in talent and building skillsets outside its traditional zones of expertise. Drivers increasingly demand intuitive user interfaces and services that could create new revenue streams, if done correctly. “Software is the key to the future,” TeslaÂ’s Elon Musk tweeted when one of his followers asked about VW switching CEOs. Diess certainly didnÂ’t lack ambition.

Someone is leaving anti-diesel flyers on Volkswagen TDIs in Portland

As if some Volkswagen TDI owners don't already feel bad enough, given the recent diesel scandal, someone is further shaming them. Flyers full of bad information are being left on TDI cars in eco-friendly Portland, OR. Portland-based sandwich joint Lardo posted a picture of the flyer to their Instagram account yesterday morning. Along with annoying font color changes, the flyer incorrectly states that the diesel car spews two to four times more pollutants than a Chevy Suburban. The author of the flyer also throws a Nazi mention in there for good measure, though they get the history wrong, too. Volkswagen wasn't founded by Nazis, though the Nazi government did create a nationalized car industry to build the 'People's Car', originally designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The factory ended up making war machines instead. Volkswagens weren't really produced until after the fall of the Nazis at the end of World War II. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Volkswagen outfitted their "clean" diesel cars with a device that would only limit emissions during testing. Once on the road, the car spewed 40 times more pollutants than it claimed. The automaker plans to 'refit' 11 million faulty vehicles. Today, the automaker launched a website dedicated to consumers unlucky enough to own the bum vehicles. Eco-warriors aren't the only ones leaving judgmental, passive-aggressive notes on cars. Like this incident in Portland, these notes often fall flat, like when this paralyzed man in Michigan parked in a handicap spot and was accused of stealing the spot simply because he drove his BMW to the gym.

VW Golf TDI circles US on less than $300 of diesel

$294.98. That's how much it cost the Volkswagen team to drive across all 48 contiguous states in the union. Which is pretty impressive, but it's only part of the story. In an effort to demonstrate just how economical a conventional diesel engine can be, VW sent a team out from its US headquarters in Herndon, VA, in a Golf TDI. Their mission was to visit all the Lower 48 on as little fuel as possible. Over the course of 16 days, they traveled 8,233.5 miles, burned through 101.43 gallons of fuel, and marked a frankly astonishing average of 81.17 miles per gallon. As a result, the team – made up of hypermiling automotive journalist Wayne Gerdes and electronics engineer Bob Winger – picked up a new Guinness World Record for the lowest fuel consumption achieved in a non-hybrid car across the 48 contiguous states. The previous record, it's worth noting, had also been set by VW and Gerdes, who piloted a 2013 Passat TDI at just a hair under 80 mpg. But here's the kicker: in raising the diesel economy bar even higher, the team also beat the record for the same achievement in a hybrid vehicle by over six mpg. So the next time someone tries to tell you a hybrid is more efficient than a diesel (at least on the highway), you can point them towards this record. Related Video: VOLKSWAGEN GOLF TDI® ROUNDS LOWER 48 STATES ON LESS THAN $300 OF CLEAN DIESEL, SETS GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ ACHIEVEMENT FOR FUEL ECONOMY Golf TDI® beats the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ achievement for "lowest fuel consumption—48 U.S. contiguous States for a non-hybrid car" at a stellar 81.17 mpg Herndon, Va. — Volkswagen of America, Inc., is pleased to announce today that the 2015 Golf TDI® Clean Diesel, part of the family of vehicles that won the 2015 North American Car of the Year, has set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® achievement for the "lowest fuel consumption—48 U.S. contiguous States for a non-hybrid car" with a remarkable 81.17 mpg. Traveling 8,233.5 miles around America in 16 days on $294.98 of Shell® Diesel fuel, the Golf beat the previous mark of 77.99 mpg by more than 3 mpg, and also beat the hybrid vehicle record of 74.34 mpg by more than 6 mpg. "Covering 8,233.5 miles on just 101.43 gallons of Clean Diesel fuel is a remarkable accomplishment, and solid proof of the efficiency and fuel economy of Volkswagen's TDI® Clean Diesel vehicles," said Michael Horn, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.