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Coronavirus prompts VW to stop production throughout Europe

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen Group, the world's biggest carmaker, is suspending production at factories across Europe as the coronavirus pandemic hits sales and disrupts supply chains, the company said on Tuesday. The German carmaker, which owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, also said that uncertainty about the fallout from coronavirus meant it was impossible to give forecasts for its performance this year. "Given the present significant deterioration in the sales situation and the heightened uncertainty regarding parts supplies to our plants, production is to be suspended in the near future at factories operated by group brands," Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Tuesday. Volkswagen's powerful works council concluded it was not possible for workers to maintain a safe distance from each other to prevent contagion and recommended a suspension of production at its factories from Friday. Production will be halted at VW's Spanish plants, in Setubal in Portugal, Bratislava in Slovakia and at the Lamborghini and Ducati plants in Italy before the end of this week, Diess said. Most of its other German and European factories will prepare to suspend production, probably for two to three weeks, while Audi said separately it would halt output at its plants in Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Mexico. Volkswagen's vast factories in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Puebla, Mexico, and plants in Brazil were not affected, but that would depend on how the coronavirus spreads, VW said. Volkswagen has 124 production sites worldwide of which 72 are in Europe, with 28 in Germany alone. "2020 will be a very difficult year. The coronavirus pandemic presents us with unknown operational and financial challenges. At the same time, there are concerns about sustained economic impacts," Diess said.   Production in China resumes Volkswagen Group sold 10.96 million vehicles last year, putting it ahead of Toyota based on the latest figures from the Japanese carmaker. Globally, VW employs 671,000 people and it delivered 4.86 million vehicles to European customers in 2019. Only last month the car and truck maker based in Wolfsburg, Germany, predicted that vehicle deliveries this year would match 2019 sales and forecast an operating return on sales in the range of 6.5% to 7.5%. "The spread of coronavirus is currently impacting the global economy. It is uncertain how severely or for how long this will also affect the Volkswagen Group.

New Lamborghini Countach teased again with three images

Lamborghini posted three more teaser photos of the coming Countach resurrection to its Instagram page. We'll have to let the pictures do most of the talking since we don't have any more information than we did when the first tease dropped a couple of days ago. We get a shot of a nose unlike any other Lamborghini in the current stable. A narrow black grille just inches wide splits the upper and lower section of the front fascia, recalling the area where the original exotic placed its black front bumper and fog lights. The name "Countach" appears on the right side of the coupe, in all lowercase letters just like the original, but stretched and angular befitting the brand's modern design language. A second shot exposes the engine cover, this a new design based on the clear cover that can be fitted to the Aventador. Three flat hexagon panels, thickly bordered in black, step down from the roof to the tail. Beneath them is the longitudinal and posterior V12 portion of the LPI 800 powertrain. The initialism stands for Longitudinale Posteriore Ibrido, and we're still waiting for any information on that last bit, the hybrid. The V12 in the Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 received help from a supercapacitor, but that special edition didn't get official designation as a hybrid. The last car from Sant'Agata to do so was the 2014 Asterion LPI 910-4 concept from the 2014 Paris Motor Show. The Asterion hid a V10 in back for the rear wheels, and two e-motors with a combined 296 horsepower on the front axle powered by a lithium-ion battery. The Sian produces about 785 horsepower, the Countach will deliver about 789, the Aventador S makes 690. So Lamborghini isn't using electricity to chase gaudy numbers. Yet.   The last pic presents the area behind the side window. This is a slightly tighter shot of an image that a site called Lamborghini Specs posted a few days ago, snagged somehow from the automaker's customer-only site, Lamborghini Unica. This reveals a Huracan-like intake treatment, the opening descending from the roof to the rear fenders. Ahead of the intake, a row of slats harks back to Gandini's Countach prototype that arranged a flat row of vents along the fender, just behind the glasshouse. The fender is decorated with a cap that could be the fuel filler or a charging port or something else.

Audi CEO Rupert Stadler: Ducati is not for sale

"Ducati is not for sale." Those words, attributed to Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, are about as clear and definitive as can be, and they reiterate a previous statement about the potential sale of the premium Italian motorcycle brand that was made in March of this year. "[Ducati and Lamborghini] belong to Audi and, together with us, have an excellent future," said Stadler. Thing is, Audi, as well-off and established as it may be, still falls under the Volkswagen umbrella. And, as you're surely aware, things haven't exactly been smooth sailing for the VW Group over the last several months. The German automaker has squirreled away billions of dollars in anticipation of the legal fallout that's sure to come from the falsification of vehicle emissions data, and that's going to leave the company strapped for cash. All of that bad news led to speculation that VW could sell off some of its non-core businesses. What of the future of the Scania and Man heavy truck brands? Those don't currently appear to be on the auction block, either. VW's continued involvement in the HD truck segment was announced as part of the brand's TOGETHER - Strategy 2025 plan, in which Volkswagen outlined plans to push further into vehicle electrification and vehicle autonomy. Related Video: News Source: Asphalt & RubberImage Credit: Malte Christians/AFP/Getty Earnings/Financials Audi Lamborghini Volkswagen Motorcycle Performance Ducati Scania