09' Gti Dsg 4d on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche engine wizard Wolfgang Hatz resigns

Wolfganag Hatz has resigned from his position as Member of the Porsche Executive Board with responsibility for Research and Development. He has held that title since 2011. Hatz's storied career came to an abrupt end in September when he was suspended pending investigation into the Volkswagen diesel scandal. Before the Porsche job, Hatz was the head of engine and powertrain development for the Volkswagen Group. It has been alleged that he is at the center of the investigation into the company cheating on emissions testing, but so far there has been no direct link made to him, according to Porsche's announcement today. Hatz has worked at a variety of European automakers, including Audi, BMW, Opel, and Fiat. He is considered the father of the BMW S14 engine, which powered the E30 M3, and also developed the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8. He was also very involved in Porsche's motorsports efforts, including the recent return to the prototype class and a short-lived F1 V12 engine project. Ulrich Hackenberg, most recently VW's lead engineer and a board member at Audi, was also suspended at the same time as Hatz and resigned shortly thereafter. It's not clear why Hatz waited so long to do the same, but Porsche claims his resignation was voluntary. Michael Steiner has been named Hatz's replacement as head of Porsche R&D. Steiner has been with Porsche since 2002 and seems like a forward-thinking sort, having headed the innovation and concepts division, lead Panamera development, and, most recently, been in charge of complete vehicle engineering. Prior to his time at Porsche, Steiner held positions at Daimler. The change in leadership is effective immediately. Related Video:

CES Part 2: Honda/Sony Afeela, BMW i Vision Dee and more | Autoblog Podcast #763

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick and Associate Editor Byron Hurd. This week, they pick up from last week and dig deeper into some of the reveals and news coming from this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) including the Ram 1500 Revolution, the Afeela EV collaboration from Sony and Honda, Peugeot Inception, BMW i Vision Dee and VW ID.7, among other highlights and musings from the show. They also discuss the cars they've been driving, including the BMW iX, Mercedes EQS SUV, two-door Bronco Badlands, Mazda CX-50 Meridian Edition and Toyota RAV4 Wilderness Edition. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #763 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown CES 2023 Ram 1500 Revolution Sony Honda Mobility Afeela EV prototype Peugeot Inception BMW i Vision Dee Volkswagen ID.7 Cars we're driving 2023 BMW iX 2023 Mercedes EQS 450 SUV 2022 Ford Bronco Badlands Two-Door 7MT 2023 Mazda CX-50 Meridian Edition 2023 Toyota RAV4 Woodland Edition Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: Green Podcasts CES BMW Ford Honda Mazda Mercedes-Benz RAM Toyota Volkswagen Peugeot Truck Coupe Crossover SUV Concept Cars Electric Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance Sedan Afeela

New safety and connected features help distinguish VW's lineup

Volkswagen may have wrested the title of world's largest carmaker away from Toyota this week, but the company still has some work to do in the United States. Despite its worldwide dominance, Volkswagen's American sales have languished. Unlike its red-hot Audi brand, mainstream Volkswagen sales have been afflicted by an assortment of maladies. An aging lineup, a reputation for mechanical gremlins and a lack of a competitive crossover vehicle have all hurt. In the US, the brand's cars claim only two percent of the overall market. As we reported earlier today, Volkswagen took steps this week to upgrade some broader aspects of its weaknesses here. At its Electronics Research Laboratory in Silicon Valley, the company announced it would make several advanced safety features and connectivity options available throughout the bulk of its lineup. Features that have long been available on its premium Audi cars will spread to its more economical offerings. In one big way, they will overstep their premium siblings. Volkswagen said Apple CarPlay, Android Auto (pictured below) and MirrorLink will all be available on a revamped infotainment system. Cars equipped with the new Car-Net-branded systems are arriving in showrooms now. Only last month, Hyundai became the first to offer CarPlay, debuting the smartphone-projection system in its 2015 Sonata. Chevy, Honda, and now Volkswagen, have quickly followed suit. On the safety-minded side, features like adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, park steering assist and automatic post-collision braking will be optional equipment on most of the brand's 2016 model-year cars. Previously, the features had only been available on the Touareg SUV. They're now available on most Golf variants, the CC, Jetta, Sportwagen and some Beetles. Though the Passat sedan is one of the company's most competitive cars, it was curiously absent from the announcements, though an update could come later this year. While the advanced safety equipment is a boon for motorists increasingly interested in the technology, Volkswagen also added some basic safety tech that's long been available in mainstream competitors' cars, adding features like blind-spot monitoring and lane-departure warning. One of the big differences consumers might note is the cost of the driver-assistance systems.