2001 Vw Passat Wagon 4motion Glx on 2040-cars

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France may still ban diesel vehicle sales

Legislators in France are not afraid to bring out the ban hammer when it comes to dirty vehicles. The city of Paris has implemented bans on old clunkers, and the French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, said in 2014 that diesel cars were a "mistake" and that the government would "progressively undo" the error. Now the national government has said it will not rule out banning sales of new diesel vehicles by Renault and Volkswagen if those companies don't answer more questions about their vehicles' emissions. Environment Minister Segolene Royal said last week that France wants more information about the VW diesel defeat device and Renault's engine software. "We will be asking the consumer fraud investigators and prosecutors to communicate any findings that will enable us to establish whether it's necessary to withdraw sales authorizations," Royal said. Royal has been making waves recently at the COP22 meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco and said that Donald Trump's environmental policies will be " absolutely catastrophic" and weaken the US' standing in the world. If the US doesn't want to lead on climate change efforts, she said, "China can take the place of the United States." She has also been involved in a controversy at home over votes that her staff made to allow higher emissions level from vehicles. Related Video: News Source: SpeedluxImage Credit: Fred Tanneau/AFP/Getty Images Government/Legal Green Volkswagen Renault Emissions Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal segolene royal

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.

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.