2003 20th Vw Gti (repainted, Custom Work, Wire Tuck, Air Suspension) on 2040-cars

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VW stock plummets as Euro markets open

The fallout from Volkswagen's installation of an emissions "defeat device" on nearly 500,000 diesel-fueled models in the US is already hitting the automaker hard on the German stock exchange. At one point, the share price plummeted 23 percent to erase the equivalent of $17.6 billion in value. Things eventually bounced back slightly to a still severe 19.23 percent loss, according to Bloomberg as of this writing. The scandal couldn't come at a worse time for chairman Martin Winterkorn. The VW supervisory board takes up the issue of renewing his contract on September 25, Bloomberg reports. If things get bad enough, the door could be open for a new boss to step in. Dealers in the US might start feeling the pain from this, as well. Affected 2015 VWs that are still at showrooms are now under a stop sale. Until the issue is straightened out, the Environmental Protection Agency isn't certifying the company's 2016 diesel models with the 2.0 TDI, either. The diesel emissions problem was first discovered by research from West Virginia University and the International Council on Clean Transportation. In some cases, the engines can produce 40 times more nitrogen oxides than allowed. The automaker could be on the hook for $18 billion in fines for the breach, but the actual figure is expected to be lower. In response, Winterkorn has issued a public apology and ordered an independent investigation into what happened. The EPA and California Air Resources Board have also been looking into the situation. This could become an international problem, though. According to The Detroit News, European authorities might begin similar inquires to check the automaker's diesel emissions there.

Volkswagen rules out more potent Polo R

Volkswagen may be planning ever more powerful versions of its Golf, but don't expect that lust for power to trickle down to the smaller Polo anytime soon as the German automaker has reportedly ruled out the prospect of making a Polo R. This according to Autovisie, the automotive section of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, in speaking to VW representatives at the launch of the new Polo GTI. Where the previous Polo GTI offered 177 horsepower, the new one packs 189 and is available with either a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The company briefly offered a Polo WRC Street with 220 horsepower, but that was only for a limited edition that Autovisie says will not be repeated for mainstream production. Which may just be for the best, as far as we're concerned, as no versions of the Polo are offered in the US, and we don't need yet another piece of forbidden fruit we can't get our hands on. The decision may seem at odds with the Polo R WRC rally machine with which Volkswagen has been dominating the World Rally Championship for the past two seasons, but was likely made in order to keep the Polo from infringing on Golf territory. VW currently offers the Golf GTI with 210 horsepower and the Golf R with 292, and showcased an even more powerful version with nearly 400 hp.

VW readying CC Shooting Brake?

This was bound to happen. Volkswagen's relentless drive for big volume has the brand mining seemingly every niche it can find for additional sales worldwide. And with its CLS Shooting Brake, fellow countryman Mercedes-Benz has already shown that a wagon based off of a "four-door coupe" can look dead sexy and command extra dollars. So it follows that the Volkswagen CC (whose existence is all but directly attributable to the success of the original CLS sedan) will also get a load-lugging variant. That's according to the UK's Autocar, which notes that the five-door will come in the CC's next generation.
According to the report, the next CC will be available in front and all-wheel drive variants with the usual assortment of gas and diesel four-cylinders found in the Wolfsburg empire, with the possibility of a gas plug-in hybrid model, too. The rakish estate will ride atop VW's MQB architecture, a shorter variant of which is also found underneath the new Golf. The scalable chassis is set to spread like kudzu throughout the company's lineup, but the CC probably won't happen until after the launch of the next European-market Passat in 2015.
Will we get it in North America? Hard to say. Volkswagen sells the standard CC saloon here, but not in particularly large numbers, and when the company moved to a North American-specific Passat, it dumped the wagon variant. The traditional VW estate apparently continues to pick up sales momentum abroad, however, making the CC Shooting Brake a seemingly natural fit for buyers who still want the utility of a two-box form but can afford to sacrifice a bit of cargo room in the name of style.