2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid Supercharged on 2040-cars

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VW will need to recall 323,700 diesel vehicles in India

Volkswagen Group's diesel emissions scandal continues to spread, and now the automaker must recall 323,700 diesel vehicles in India because of too much pollution, according to Bloomberg. The campaign covers models from several of the group's brands including VW, Audi, and Skoda. The Automotive Research Association of India first discovered the emissions irregularities after conducting its own real world and lab tests, and the Indian government then commanded VW to explain what was happening. The country's regulators will allow the automaker to set the recall schedule for the repairs, according to a government official who spoke to Bloomberg, and the campaign will likely happen in phases. Among the affected vehicles, there will be about 100,000 from the VW brand including the Jetta, Passat, and some variants of the Polo. VW already has repairs for some of the affected diesel engines in Europe, and the company can allegedly fix the emissions problem with new software and small hardware changes. The situation is harder in the US where regulators still need to approve any proposed solutions, and VW also must now recall its 3.0-liter V6 TDI in California to eliminate other problematic code. The German automaker faces investigations from regulators all over the world into its emissions evasions, and they could be quite costly. One estimate already suggests the minimum price of the potential repairs, fines, and other expenses at about $24.5 billion. Officials in Brazil have already fined the company $13 million for pollution issues with the diesel Amarok pickup and requested a recall to fix them.

Automakers score 8 out of top 20 most-watched ads on YouTube [w/videos]

Who would have ever thought there'd be a day where people are able to skip television commercials only to go to websites to watch them later? Such is the joy of a DVR and YouTube. AdWeek tabulated the 20 most-watched ads on YouTube, and found that nine were car-related including eight coming from automakers.
Volkswagen continued its Star Wars theme with two ads in the top 20, including the highest-ranking car commercial The Bark Side spot at number three with almost 18 million views, which doesn't even have a single car in it. Some of our favorites are from Chrysler with Clint Eastwood in It's Halftime in America and House Arrest with Charlie Sheen for the Fiat 500 Abarth. Chevrolet, Honda, Audi and Toyota were the other automakers in the top 20, but we'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention one of the coolest ads on the list, the Hot Wheels corkscrew jump.
Of all the car videos, only the Fiat ad wasn't played during a Super Bowl. Check out all eight videos - in order - after the jump. Nike took the top spot with its My Time is Now ad that has been seen online more than 20 million times with Pepsi's Uncle Drew posted up in the runner-up; some of the other videos include four Old Spice commercials and an ad in which Snoop Dogg is pedaling Hot Pockets.

VW looking to MAN up, ditch Mercedes van deal

Unlike the US, the commercial truck market throughout the rest of the world is chocked full of competitors from many different automakers. Since 2006, Volkswagen has had a fullsize van called the Crafter that was a result of a partnership with Daimler AG and based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. This partnership is supposed to last through 2016, but Reuters is reporting that VW might be looking to end its relationship with Daimler and create its own van in cooperation with German truck and bus maker MAN.
The article says that VW AG has more than a 75-percent stake in MAN, which would essentially be keeping the new commercial vehicle in-house. Even if VW bolts, Daimler still has a deal worked out in the commercial truck industry between its subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso and Renault-Nissan to supply the other with different trucks.