2004 Volkswagen R32 Low Miles Excellent Condition on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Yes, a family of 5 can live in a 1981 VW Westfalia van

Automakers and marketers trying to reach environmentally conscious consumers who desire the simple life basically have two strategies: promote electric vehicles that can be charged through green energy or sell a 30-year-old Volkswagen van on Craigslist. Nicolas Boullosa and Kirsten Dirksen opted for Plan B and turned a 1981 Volkswagen Westfalia camper into a "micro-living" experiment. The co-founders of the simple living website faircompanies packed up their van and three young children for a road trip through the Pacific Northwest. They even turned the adventure into a documentary called Summer of (Family) Love, which you can view below. It's two hours long, so maybe add this to your weekend viewing list. They limited themselves to one backpack per person into a camper that they purchased off Craigslist and named "Westy." They stuck to their original intention of cooking all their own meals off a propane stove, creating a new little home every night in a different location, mostly spaces outside RV parks. They met up with other enthusiasts of the "tiny house" community who live like nomads. They were able to interview a few of then and, "With each stop we picked up some new piece of wisdom about life's essentials," Dirksen wrote in the faircompanies blog. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Faircompanies via Treehugger Green Volkswagen Green Culture Transportation Alternatives vw van westfalia

2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid

More Fun Than A Prius, Less Sensible Than A TDI
Let's have some fun, and do some math. We're talking pretty rudimentary stuff, multiplication and division, to figure out if the upcoming Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid can make a baseline case for itself against two very strong competitors in this segment. The competitors in question, at least for now, are two more Jettas: the diesel-drinking TDI and the fit-for-the-masses SE with VW's long-serving 2.5-liter engine.
To keep the equations clean and simple (hey, we're writers), we'll calculate based on the most flattering EPA miles per gallon stat from highway driving for all cars, assume a healthy 20,000 miles driven per year, and factor in today's average cost for the respective fuels these three require: diesel (TDI), regular (SE) and premium (Hybrid). We'll also start with the base prices for all models.

United States drivers buying fewer Mexican-made cars

Crossovers and pickup trucks are not only growing in market share, they're also more profitable than cars. A crossover on the same platform as a sedan retails for thousands more, despite similar components. It's one of the reasons we've seen automakers rapidly shifting production of their sedans and hatchbacks to Mexico, where cheap labor preserves the thin profit margins on these inexpensive vehicles. But as the market continues to shift in the United States, Mexico is getting burned by its lack of product diversity. The country's auto exports, which are heavy on cars, suffered a 16-percent drop last month, Automotive News reports. In total, year-over-year exports fell from 233,515 to 197,020 last month, while year-to-date exports are down by 7.4 percent, from 922,029 to 854,118. The number one culprit? America – which usually accounts for 75 percent of Mexico's exports – and its appetite for crossovers and pickup trucks bolstered by cheap gas prices. While Mexico does build some light truck models – AN specifically calls out the Ram 2500, Honda HR-V, GMC Sierra, and Toyota Tacoma as export leaders – the vast majority of vehicles rolling out of its factories are sedans and hatchbacks. In fact, the three biggest drops in Mexican exports came from companies whose south of the border factories only build cars – Ford (Fusion/Lincoln MKZ and Fiesta), Mazda (Mazda3), and Volkswagen (Golf and Jetta). Mexican Automotive Industry Association President Eduardo Solis told AN the export shortfall will likely be sorted out sooner rather than later, thanks to a pair of new factories – a Kia car factory and an Audi SUV plant – that are coming online by year's end. The two facilities will add around 100,000 vehicles to the country's export totals, which Solis said should leave the industry on the verge of breaking another export record in 2016. But how sustainable will these record-breaking years be? Slapping an "Hecho en Mexico" sticker on a new German SUV won't be enough to change the fact that Mexico's product mix is tilted too heavily towards body styles that are not growing in volume. Mexico's record-breaking export years probably aren't at an end, but we'd argue they're certainly under threat. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Omar Torres / AFP / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Ford GMC Honda Mazda RAM Volkswagen Truck Crossover SUV Mexico