2013 Volkswagen Passat on 2040-cars

Auto blog

VW Golf GTD wagon makes us swoon ahead of Geneva reveal

The European market is just crammed with power wagons we can't get our hands on: big ones like the Audi RS6 Avant and Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake, but also little ones like the new Mercedes CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake, Skoda Octavia RS and Seat Leon ST Cupra. Now there'll be one more, and as you might have guessed, it comes from the Volkswagen Group. At the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, VW will present the new Golf GTD Variant. And if you're wondering what it's all about, it's all right there in the name: those three letters tell us it's a performance diesel, and the Variant name tells us it's a wagon (which we'd more readily recognize as the SportWagen on this side of the Atlantic). So there you have it: a performance-oriented diesel wagon, but not one we're never likely to see on American roads. If you ever did see one up close, though, you'd find a 2.0-liter turbodiesel four under the hood with 181 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque – enough to send this nimble oil tanker to 62 in 7.9 seconds, all the while returning over 53 miles per gallon (on the lenient European cycle, anyway). Along with the engine, VW has thrown in other GTD performance-minded bits, including a sports suspension and progressive steering. Visual telltales include unique front and rear bumpers, grilles, 17-inch alloys, blacked-out roof rails, smoked taillight lenses and an interior with plaid sports seats, stainless steel pedals... the works. European buyers will be able to enjoy all this and more while hauling all their stuff down the Autobahn, passing gas station after gas station in oil-burning bliss. World premiere of the new Golf GTD Variant - The perfect all-round package: sporty, economical, comfortable and spacious - Launch set for Geneva Motor Show Since 1982 Volkswagen's GTD logo has stood for Gran Turismo Diesel, with its promise of sporty yet economical motoring. Now for the first time, the GTD initials grace the Golf Variant, which like the Golf GTD, boasts the 184 PS (135 kW) TDI engine. The new Golf GTD Variant is set for its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show, and is available to order as of now at a price of 31,975 euros. The Golf GTD Variant* is excellently placed to establish itself as an iconic long-distance cruiser.

The UK votes for Brexit and it will impact automakers

It's the first morning after the United Kingdom voted for what's become known as Brexit – that is, to leave the European Union and its tariff-free internal market. Now begins a two-year process in which the UK will have to negotiate with the rest of the EU trading bloc, which is its largest export market, about many things. One of them may be tariffs, and that could severely impact any automaker that builds cars in the UK. This doesn't just mean companies that you think of as British, like Mini and Jaguar. Both of those automakers are owned by foreign companies, incidentally. Mini and Rolls-Royce are owned by BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors of India, and Bentley by the VW Group. Many other automakers produce cars in the UK for sale within that country and also export to the EU. Tariffs could damage the profits of each of these companies, and perhaps cause them to shift manufacturing out of the UK, significantly damaging the country's resurgent manufacturing industry. Autonews Europe dug up some interesting numbers on that last point. Nissan, the country's second-largest auto producer, builds 475k or so cars in the UK but the vast majority are sent abroad. Toyota built 190k cars last year in Britain, of which 75 percent went to the EU and just 10 percent were sold in the country. Investors are skittish at the news. The value of the pound sterling has plummeted by 8 percent as of this writing, at one point yesterday reaching levels not seen since 1985. Shares at Tata Motors, which counts Jaguar and Land Rover as bright jewels in its portfolio, were off by nearly 12 percent according to Autonews Europe. So what happens next? No one's terribly sure, although the feeling seems to be that the jilted EU will impost tariffs of up to 10 percent on UK exports. It's likely that the UK will reciprocate, and thus it'll be more expensive to buy a European-made car in the UK. Both situations will likely negatively affect the country, as both production of new cars and sales to UK consumers will both fall. Evercore Automotive Research figures the combined damage will be roughly $9b in lost profits to automakers, and an as-of-yet unquantified impact on auto production jobs. Perhaps the EU's leaders in Brussels will be in a better mood in two years, and the process won't devolve into a trade war. In the immediate wake of the Brexit vote, though, the mood is grim, the EU leadership is angry, and investors are spooked.

Volkswagen tipped to launch turbocharged Up! with 100 hp

Overseas customers enticed by the compact dimensions of the Volkswagen Up! but turned off by its diminutive 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine may be encouraged by reports that the German automaker is planning a more potent turbo version. Previewed by the GT Up! concept showcased at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show (pictured above), the more performance-oriented model is expected to pack the turbo three from the larger Polo, where it produces 100 horsepower channeled through a five-speed manual transmission. That may not seem like much, but it would put the existing 59- and 74-horsepower versions of the German city car to shame. That might not give it enough punch to keep pace with the upcoming Smart Fortwo Brabus (and its Renaultsport Twingo counterpart), tipped to pack as much as 130 hp, but it could stand to out-perform the existing 89-hp turbo models of both. Given that the reports are emanating from Brazil, however, it is possible that the Up! Turbo (or whatever it's ultimately called) would be limited to the South American market, if it's built at all. One thing's for sure, though: it's not likely to make it to North American showrooms anytime soon.