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Former Audi chief designer Wolfgang Egger leaves Italdesign

The latest word from the international community of automotive designers has it that Wolfgang Egger is leaving Italdesign, but just where the accomplished designer will land next and who will take his place remain big question marks. Egger is a designer who has bounced back and forth between Italy and Germany over the course of his career. He was born in Germany but studied in Milan. He began his career at Alfa Romeo in 1989 and was named its chief designer by 1993 before being head-hunted by the Volkswagen Group in 1998 to head up the design department at Seat. A few years later he went returned to Italy to run the Lancia design department, and was subsequently renamed to the same post at Alfa Romeo. In 2007 he went back to his native Germany to head up the Audi design office, over which he assumed complete responsibility by 2012, but left Audi in 2013 to run Italdesign. For those unfamiliar, Italdesign is the studio founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro (pictured at left next to Egger) back in 1968 but which, along with many other Italian design houses, fell on hard times in recent years. The Volkswagen Group swooped in to rescue the troubled studio in 2010, turning it into something of an in-house advanced design department to provide an alternative perspective on the direction in which the group and its various brands could take their respective designs moving forward. With Egger now leaving its helm, Italdesign and its German parent company will need to find his replacement, and we're sure they'll announce one in due course. The bigger question on our minds, however, is where Egger himself will head next. Given the path his career has taken to date, we wouldn't be surprised to see him land elsewhere in the Volkswagen Group or find a new role in the expanding Fiat Chrysler Automobiles empire. Then again, Egger could find it time to open an entirely new chapter. Watch this space. News Source: Car Design NewsImage Credit: Newspress Design/Style Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Audi Volkswagen designer italdesign giugiaro wolfgang egger

VW reveals Outback-rivaling Golf Alltrack ahead of Paris

The Volkswagen Passat Alltrack is getting a baby brother at this year's 2014 Paris Motor Show in the form of a new Golf Alltrack. Like its larger sibling, the little wagon is supposed to offer light-duty off-road driving ability combined with a more rugged look to show it off.
To give the Golf Alltrack that soft-road ability, VW is outfitting the wagon with its latest 4Motion all-wheel drive system from Haldex. The setup can decouple power from the rear-axle when not needed to save fuel. To further improve traction, the Alltrack gets VW's electronic differential lock, and the car can individually brake its inside wheel during hard cornering for better handling.
Volkswagen also wants the Alltrack to be able to visually show that it can handle getting away from the pavement, even though it starts life as a standard Golf wagon. That means jacking up the suspension an extra 0.75 inches and adding black moldings all the way around the car. There are also redesigned bumpers for the front and rear and silver underbody protection, plus new accents like anodized roof rails and silver mirror caps. The interior is essentially unchanged from the wagon, except for altered trim and Alltrack badges.

Volkswagen Golf Wagon leaked ahead of official unveiling

Wagons ho! These three images of the upcoming Volkswagen Golf Wagon have leaked online ahead of the car's official debut, which may very well be at the Geneva Motor Show. Looking over the photos doesn't really bring any surprises - after all, this is a VW Golf with a wagon rear end grafted on, or basically what we expect next Jetta SportWagen will be.
We can only share these three images at this time, but fret not, folks. There's little doubt that all the details and images will be flowing from Volkswagen in short order. In the meantime, click on the images above to view them in high resolution.