Rumorpile: Cost-Cutting At Volkswagen Puts the Beetle and Polo 3-Door in Danger for Cutting

If there is one bright spot in Volkswagen, it has to be their commercial division. Through August, the division has seen sales increase 8.2 percent to 308,500 models. With their success, it should come as no surprise they are considering moving into other markets such as the U.S.
Eckhard Scholz, Volkswagen's commercial vehicles division CEO tells Reuters that the United States "are still a highly interesting market." A lot of this comes from many commercial vehicle manufacturers operating in the U.S. are taking ideas from their European counterparts. But when asked about possibly selling vehicles in the U.S., Scholz said,
"A lot of things come to mind but at the moment I have nothing concrete to say."
Volkswagen's commercial division handles the Caddy, Transporter, and Crafter vans, along with the Amarok pickup. 
This isn't the first time that Volkswagen has considered bringing over some of their commercial vehicles. Last year, then CEO of Volkswagen of America, Michael Horn said the automaker was looking at possibly bringing over one of their vans into the U.S.
But there is a big elephant in the room; the diesel emission scandal. A fair number of commercial vehicle buyers like diesel engines for fuel economy and the ability to handle heavy loads. But Volkswagen may have a very difficult time trying to get diesel engines certified in the U.S. They might have to go with gas engines for the time being which could limit their appeal. 
Source: Reuters

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If there is one bright spot in Volkswagen, it has to be their commercial division. Through August, the division has seen sales increase 8.2 percent to 308,500 models. With their success, it should come as no surprise they are considering moving into other markets such as the U.S.
Eckhard Scholz, Volkswagen's commercial vehicles division CEO tells Reuters that the United States "are still a highly interesting market." A lot of this comes from many commercial vehicle manufacturers operating in the U.S. are taking ideas from their European counterparts. But when asked about possibly selling vehicles in the U.S., Scholz said,
"A lot of things come to mind but at the moment I have nothing concrete to say."
Volkswagen's commercial division handles the Caddy, Transporter, and Crafter vans, along with the Amarok pickup. 
This isn't the first time that Volkswagen has considered bringing over some of their commercial vehicles. Last year, then CEO of Volkswagen of America, Michael Horn said the automaker was looking at possibly bringing over one of their vans into the U.S.
But there is a big elephant in the room; the diesel emission scandal. A fair number of commercial vehicle buyers like diesel engines for fuel economy and the ability to handle heavy loads. But Volkswagen may have a very difficult time trying to get diesel engines certified in the U.S. They might have to go with gas engines for the time being which could limit their appeal. 
Source: Reuters

There are changes afoot in the Volkswagen Golf family. We'll begin with the bad news, the two-door Golf GTI will be no more in the U.S. Car and Driver was able to confirm this news with Volkswagen. Why? 
“The trend is clearly shifting toward four-door models,” said Volkswagen of America’s marketing chief, Hendrik Muth.
Originally, Volkswagen was planning to offer the two-door GTI for 2017, but only in the base S trim. 
Now for the possible good news, Volkswagen is considering adding all-wheel drive to the standard Golf. During the press launch of the Golf Alltrack, Volkswagen's vice president of product marketing and strategy Dr. Hendrik Muth explained that adding 4Motion to the Puebla, Mexico factory has brought forth new possibilities. The Truth About Cars asked if one of the possibilities was adding all-wheel drive to the standard Golf and Muth answered "Yes".
Volkswagen wants to give Subaru a real challenge in the compact class. The Japanese automaker is the only one that offers all-wheel drive on their standard compact models - Impreza and XV Crosstrek. 
Source: Car and Driver, The Truth About Cars
Pic Credit: William Maley for Cheers & Gears

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There are changes afoot in the Volkswagen Golf family. We'll begin with the bad news, the two-door Golf GTI will be no more in the U.S. Car and Driver was able to confirm this news with Volkswagen. Why? 
“The trend is clearly shifting toward four-door models,” said Volkswagen of America’s marketing chief, Hendrik Muth.
Originally, Volkswagen was planning to offer the two-door GTI for 2017, but only in the base S trim. 
Now for the possible good news, Volkswagen is considering adding all-wheel drive to the standard Golf. During the press launch of the Golf Alltrack, Volkswagen's vice president of product marketing and strategy Dr. Hendrik Muth explained that adding 4Motion to the Puebla, Mexico factory has brought forth new possibilities. The Truth About Cars asked if one of the possibilities was adding all-wheel drive to the standard Golf and Muth answered "Yes".
Volkswagen wants to give Subaru a real challenge in the compact class. The Japanese automaker is the only one that offers all-wheel drive on their standard compact models - Impreza and XV Crosstrek. 
Source: Car and Driver, The Truth About Cars
Pic Credit: William Maley for Cheers & Gears

In the neverending saga that is the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal, Audi's head of R&D will be suspended this week due to knowing about the cheat used in the 3.0L TDI V6.
German newspaper Bild am Sonntag (via Reuters) learned from sources that Stefan Knirsch knew about the software and lied under oath about it during an internal investigation. Bild says Knirsch has been asked to clear his desk. Not surprisingly, Volkswagen, Audi and Audi's works council declined to comment.
Source: Bild am Sonntag via Reuters

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