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Volkswagen Group looks to add ridesharing brand to portfolio

Volkswagen is rapidly trying to put the ongoing diesel scandal behind it at the Paris Motor Show with the unveiling of the automaker's electric I.D. Concept. In addition to unveiling the EV, the automaker also announced that it established a yet-to-be-named subsidiary for ridesharing purposes. The new brand will be VW Group's 13th, and will add mobility services to in the form of a carpooling service, similar to that of Uber and Lyft. This will include teaming up with Gett – a cab-hailing startup that operates in roughly 70 cities worldwide, which includes New York City, that was previously known as GetTaxi. Earlier this year, VW invested $300 million in the company. In addition to ridesharing, VW Group claims it is also hard at work on its own shuttle service as the brand aims to become a leader in urban mobility services by 2025. The name of the 13th brand and more information on the subsidiary will be released in November. VW Group also announced plans to give Gett drivers in Moscow, Russia "preferential terms" on a Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Jetta, Skoda Octavia, or Skoda Rapid. VW Group's 13th brand sounds similar to Mercedes-Benz's Vision Van Concept, which the automaker would allow consumers to lease and purchase the vehicle, as well as rent its services on a short-term basis. While the Vision Van Concept is a commercial vehicle that has delivery drones on the roof to aid deliveries, VW Group's shuttle service sounds more like autonomous buses to ferry people around. Now that diesels are dead, Volkswagen has quickly embraced the future, where autonomous and electric vehicles coexist. Related Video: Related Gallery Volkswagen I.D. Concept: Paris 2016 View 16 Photos News Source: Volkswagen Green Paris Motor Show Volkswagen Skoda Autonomous Vehicles Electric vw diesel scandal ridesharing 2016 paris motor show gett

European car sales up 8% in February

Three weeks ago an analyst increased projections for European car sales this year, expecting them to climb three percent compared to last year instead of 2.7 percent. That number is a postive sign after years of hard times but it turns out February was especially good, overall European sales climbing eight percent on a wave of southern European recovery and discounts - and this comes after five months of gains including January's 7.2-percent jump over the year before.
The only country of Europe's five largest markets to post a decline was France, just as it did in January, Germany, the UK and Italy posting solid double-digit numbers, Spain rocking the charts with an 18-percent increase because of a government program to encourage trade-ins.
The only brand to miss the wave was Volkswagen, dropping 0.8 percent as it watched the double-digit growth at sister brands Audi, Seat and Skoda lift the Volkswagen Group sales up by seven-percent. Peugeot overcame flat sales at Citroën to improve the group by 3.5 percent, BMW and the Mercedes-Benz/Smart combo rose by four percent, the Fiat group jumped 5.8 percent, Ford was up 11 percent, the Renault Group 11.5 percent, General Motors 12 percent and the Toyota clan by 14 percent.

VW confirms development of 10-speed dual clutch, 134-hp/liter diesel

Each year, the Vienna International Motor Symposium showcases some of the up-and-coming technologies automakers are engineering for the use in passenger cars, and Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn revealed some big developments VW is working on for its future products. Winterkorn discussed a multi-faceted approach that VW is looking to reduce its fleet fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
Some of the bigger news he discussed included a "high-performance" diesel engine that will produce 134 horsepower per liter and a 10-speed DSG automatic transmission. While no specific applications were mentioned, we can only hope this is for the Audi R4 we keep hearing about.
Another topic he touched on that caused us to perk up our ears was had to do with VW's plug-in hybrid technology. While we know the PHEV versions of the Audi A3 and Porsche Panamera are on the way, Winterkorn also said that these two models will be followed up by Golf, Passat, Audi A6 and Porsche Cayenne plug-in models. Scroll down for a press release highlighting the automaker's future fuel-saving initiatives.