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VW apprentices prep Golf GTI Dark Shine, Variant Biturbo for Worthersee

Volkswagen not only cooks up some pretty tempting concepts of its own for the GTI-Treffen at Worthersee every year (and encourages its sister brands to do the same), but also gives its apprentices the opportunity to do it. And here's what they came up with this year. Called the GTI Dark Shine edition, the show car features an upgraded 2.0-liter turbo four, pumping out 389 horsepower and 359 pound-feet of torque through its dual-clutch transmission. But that's not all. As you can see, it also has a striking two-tone livery of metallic gray and yellow pearl, along with a stainless steel exhaust, carbon air box, an upgraded aero kit, a 3,500-watt audio system with eight speakers and a thoroughly reworked interior done up to match the bodywork in black Alcantara and carbon leather with yellow trim. The team of 13 apprentices built the show car from a body-in-white over the course of nine months. It follows in a long line of GTI concepts done each year by VW apprentices that stretches back to 2008. This year, however, another team of 14 interns at the plant in Zwickau, Germany, worked up a blue Golf Variant wagon called the Biturbo Edition with the twin-turbo diesel from the Passat good for 236 hp and 368 lb-ft. Another team in the Czech Republic was responsible for the Fabia FUNstar pickup concept. And of course the automakers themselves showcased the radical Golf GTE Sport, GTI Clubsport, Skoda Fabia Combi R5 and Audi TT Clubsport. The lake is calling ... world premiere: Volkswagen apprentices present their Golf GTI Dark Shine at Worthersee event - Other show car premieres: Golf Variant Biturbo Edition (Zwickau) and SKODA FUNstar (Mlada Boleslav) They have followed the call of the lake: 13 Wolfsburg apprentices from Volkswagen and group company Sitech Sitztechnik have traveled to the 34th Worthersee GTI meeting today to present their 395 PS (290 kW) Golf GTI Dark Shine to the public for the first time. Their sporty two-door Golf features a two-tone color scheme. The front is painted in dark Daytona Grey Metallic and the rear in unique R-yellow pearl effect – giving rise to the name "Dark Shine". The Golf GTI Dark Shine is impressive confirmation of the high-quality practically oriented training provided by Volkswagen.

Anti-UAW VW workers move to form own union

The struggle over unionization at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, TN, continues to get more complicated. There's now a second union fighting to organize at the plant; although this one is staunchly against the actions of the United Auto Workers. At the same time, the UAW is still signing up voluntary members to its recently created Local 42 at the facility and is reportedly near having a majority of the hourly employees on its side.
The new, anti-UAW union campaign is being spearheaded by employee Mike Burton, according to Reuters, and he calls his group the American Council of Employees. He claims to already have 108 signatures in support of his organization. Burton believes that the UAW is harmful to businesses, and his goal is to force another vote to determine a preferred union among workers.
The UAW was initially defeated (712 to 626) when it attempted a union vote at the Tennessee plant in February. However, UAW secretary-treasurer Gary Casteel told Reuters that Local 42 has already signed up over 700 members. If it can reach a majority of the roughly 1,500 employees, the group hopes VW might consider recognizing it as the factory's union.

Average transaction prices climb to a record $36,270 in January

The automotive sector made a hash of the numbers last month, a mess of pluses and minuses clogging the transaction-price charts according to Kelley Blue Book. The overall industry rose one percent, even though buyers bought fewer cars and light vehicles in January 2018 vs 2017 using the selling-day adjusted rate. Due to January transaction prices rising to $36,270, a record for January, the value of new vehicles sold climbed more than $1 billion compared to January 2017. KBB's transaction prices don't include customer incentives, which changes the complexion slightly; average incentive spending rose to just over ten percent. The average transaction price in December 2017 was $36,756, so January dropped a bit - nothing unexpected, with the month annually blamed for "January doldrums." More revealing is the fact that the average transaction price in January 2017 was $34,910. This year's plumped-up figure came courtesy of the continued shift to crossovers, SUVs, and light trucks, which shouldn't surprise anyone who's read an automotive blog in the past 20 years. That category comprised nearly 70 percent of new vehicle sales for the month. Some manufacturers profited more than others, though. Fiat Chrysler managed 12.8 percent fewer sales in January compared year-on-year, but the company's vehicles sold for $1,300 more. The Ford brand suffered a 6.3-percent dip in sales, but brand transaction prices increased $2,000, while a Lincoln sold for $8,700 more on average. General Motors sold more cars and sold them for more money; overall GM transaction prices rose four percent, or $1,270, while a GMC traded hands for seven-percent more than in January 2017 and a Cadillac got $2,300 more on average. Of KBB's listed automakers, the Volkswagen Group got the most of out its customers, transaction prices rising at the German automaker by 5.6 percent to $42,243 in January 2018 compared to a year earlier. American Honda followed with a 4.3-percent increase to $28,991, GM in third at 4.1 percent to $40,313. Find your next car at Autoblog using our new and used car listings or the Car Finder tool. Broken out by segment, minivans rocked the table, transaction prices leaping by 7.9 percent to $35,380 compared to January a year earlier. Luxury cars boasted the next-highest rise, at 3.6 percent to $58,533.