Seven Major Carmakers Agree on a Common EV Charging Protocol

ACEA, the European car manufacturers’ association, recently called for a common electric vehicle charging standard to be adopted by all automakers. This would be the ideal solution for a unified infrastructure, which in turn, would further boost EV sales.

No sooner had the association’s call been published and seven major manufacturers from Europe and the U.S. but oddly enough, not from Japan, namely Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Porsche and Volkswagen, announced an agreement to support “a harmonized single-port fast charging approach” for electric vehicles in Europe and North America.

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Skoda Rolls Out New Rapid Small Sedan in India [with Video]

In the next step towards its bold goal of increasing Skoda's worldwide sales to at least 1.5 million vehicles per year by 2018, the Volkswagen Group revealed a new entry-level Skoda sedan named Rapid at its Pune plant in western India on Sunday.

Although it had been suggested that the Rapide may be the production version of Skoda's MissionL concept that was show in Frankfurt last month, this doesn't seem to be the case.

Instead, the Rapid, which borrows its name from the rear-engine Skoda coupe of the mid-late 1980s, is a rebadged version of the Indian market VW Vento, otherwise known as the Polo sedan.

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The Ghost of Chuck Norris Approves This Video [VW Polo Content]

Why did the Volkswagen Polo hatchback cross the road? [Insert joke/answer here]. But seriously now, we don't know.

What we can tell you is that we see is a sliver Polo 5d parked in what is probably a dealership (or perhaps a rental car office) seemingly somewhere in Europe and then, all of a sudden; the Polo begins to roll out the shop.

The German supermini drives through the entrance and falls down onto a busy road full of cars, and then, as if Chuck Norris a guardian angel was looking over the shoulders of anyone involved in this clip, the car goes straight through the traffic without causing any trouble.

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New Raunchy Volkswagen Passat Ad shows us the "Naked Truth"

Volkswagen is trying its best to associate the new U.S. built 2012 Passat with both the big (cinema) and small (television) screen.

Following up on its mini Darth Vader parody, das Germans have now joined forces with FX and its sitcom, "The League", for a sketch-like ad called "Win At All Costs: Naked Truth".

The spot, which is more than two minutes long, shows Stephen Rannazzisi as Kevin and Katie Aselton as Jenny playing out a humorous sketch about winning and losing bets. Hit the jump to check it out.

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New VW Up! Priced From £7,995 in the UK, Available to Order Now

Even though the new Up! city car won’t be arriving at dealerships before spring 2012, VW today released pricing details for the UK model and opened the ordering books. Pricing for the 3.5m-long three-door model with seating for four starts at £7,995 for the base version and rises to £11,180 for the top-of-the-line White and Black editions. Read more »

168,000 VW Jetta, VW Golf and Audi A3 Diesel Models Recalled in the U.S. Amidst Fire Concerns

The Volkswagen Group of America issued a voluntary safety recall on 159,884 diesel-powered VW Jetta and Jetta SportWagens manufactured from May 2008 through September 2011, and Golf models built from May 2009 through September 2011, and nearly 9,000 Audi A3 diesel models made from September 2009 through September 2011.

All the aforementioned vehicles are equipped with the German group's 2.0-liter TDi diesel engine. The company said that certain vibrations could potentially result in a fuel line cracking. The defect could cause a fuel leak, which in the presence of an ignition source may lead to a fire.

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2012 Volkswagen Golf R with 256-Ponies Priced from $33,900* in the U.S.

We've known about Volkswagen's plans to sell the hot Golf R in the States for a while now, but today, the German carmaker released pricing details on the heir to the 2004 and 2008 Golf R32 models, which will go on sale early next year.

The most powerful VW hatch sold on this side of the Atlantic will be offered in both three- and five-door body styles with prices starting from $33,900 *plus destination. Models equipped with sunroof and navigation will carry MSRPs of $35,490 (two-door) and $36,090 (four-door), not including destination and handling fees.

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Video: Sleeper 1978 VW Beetle Packs a 5.7-liter V8 Super Punch

A 'sleeper' car is defined as a super-fast vehicle with deceptive, run-of-the-mill looks. They can come in many forms and shapes, but the basic idea remains the same.

One of the more popular options for those looking to build a sleeper is the original Volkswagen Beetle, which is factory form is a total buzz killer. The owner of this modified Bug tried to keep the looks of the car as close to stock as possible, but underneath, it's a completely different story.

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New Seat Mii: Volkswagen Up! City Car Spawns Third Derivative

The world premiere of the VW Up! at last month's 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show last month was only the beginning for the German group as after the recent presentation of the Skoda Citigo, Seat is next in line to gain its version of the small city car with the Mii.

The new Mii is the Spanish firm's first offering in the segment after the termination of the Arosa mini in 2004, which was also based on a VW model, the Lupo.

As is the case with the Skoda Citigo, the only visible differences between the Seat Mii and the VW Up! are their front end styling, alloy wheel designs, tail lamp graphics and the interior trim colors and options.

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Bob Lutz Says General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai are the World's New Big Three

It's fall again, time for Bob Lutz to make headlines. Less than a month after "Maximum Bob" made his official comeback to General Motors as a consultant, the semi-retired car executive and onetime Marine pilot gave an in-depth interview to German monthly Manager Magazin.

Lutz was questioned about a variety of subjects that mainly concentrated on Opel and its relationship with General Motors, but he was also asked about the future of the industry in general, and whom he sees as being the major players.

According to Captain Lutz, the new big three in the automotive industry are General Motors, the Volkswagen Group and –wait for it- the Hyundai Group. And what about Toyota and the rest of the Japanese carmakers like Honda? According to the GM exec, Japanese automakers have lost it… Follow the jump for his (translated) response as well as the original Q&A.

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Make LEGO Models, Not War: Hippie-Inspired VW Camper Van

Do you remember the 1960s? It was all about peace, love, Woodstock and a VW Camper van to go with the hippie and surfer culture -or so they say, as any of us under 50 have only heard stories or seen movies about the era.

LEGO's latest creation is harking back to that time. No, not the Woodstock festival or the anti-Vietnam riots, but the iconic 1962 VW T1 Camper, also nostalgically known as the “hippie van”.

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VW Boss Caught on Film Impressed by the Hyundai i30’s Quality, Displeased with his Staff

Up until now, we were used to seeing Japanese and later on, Korean and Chinese executives measuring and taking pictures of every detail of their rivals’ cars at major auto shows.

But now the tables have turned, and in a big way: at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show we saw none other than VW CEO, Martin Winterkorn himself, examine Hyundai’s newest C-segment hatchback, the i30.

And boy was he impressed with the i30’s quality…But at the same time, he seemed to be frustrated by the work his own staff is doing in VW Group models. “I hear nothing!” Winterkorn said about the absence of any rattles while adjusting the steering wheel. “How did they do it?," he continued.

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Bugatti Boss Says Galibier Hyper-Saloon on Track but Design has Changed "Significantly"

It's been a long time since we last heard about the upcoming Bugatti Galibier – in April 2011, to be precise when it was reported that the luxurious sports saloon received the green light for production from the VW Group's management.

But while the project seems to be on course, the new head of Bugatti Automobiles, Wolfgang Duerheimer, told Autocar Magazine that the Galibier's design has been "significantly altered".

“I will suggest we continue development, but there will be some remarkable changes from the original concept,” Durheimer told the British publication.

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VW Stands by its Allegations, Says Suzuki is “Being Theatrical”

After the Saab saga, we now have a new automotive tale that is bound to capture our attention in the coming weeks or perhaps even months: the VW-Suzuki feud, with the former accusing its (supposed) partner of contract breach, and the latter responding in anger.

Although VW sources initially tried to downplay the issue after Osama Suzuki came out last Thursday accusing the German company of insulting his company’s honor and demanding a retraction, its "partner's" response was only a matter of time.

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Suzuki Tells Volkswagen to Take Back Statements on Breached Contract or Else…

Hell hath no fury like a woman Suzuki scorned. On Thursday, the Japanese carmaker's CEO, Osamu Suzuki, sent a letter to his counterpart at VW demanding that the German group retracts its statement about Suzuki breaching their 2009 contract.

The spark that ignited this heated war of words between the two partners was Suzuki’s decision to choose Fiat as a supplier of diesel engines instead of VW. The German group said on September 11 that Suzuki had breached their contract with this decision, while Suzuki vehemently denies it violated the terms of their agreement.

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SCOOP: Facelifted 2012 Skoda Superb and Octavia Snapped Testing in the Alps

While the Volkswagen Group is keeping itself busy with new introductions such as the VW brand's Up! and the soon-to-be launched Skoda MissionL (albeit under a different name), the company has not forget about its current portfolio and is working on improving its offerings in all segments.

This time, our team of spy photographers snagged the 2012 Skoda Superb facelift in sedan form undergoing testing in the Alps.

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Volvo Says Dankeschön to Germans for Ranking the Brand First in Customer Satisfaction

We'll have to wait and see if and when an American carmaker will provide an appropriate answer to Audi's new A6 commercial, but meanwhile here's a fresh and rather witty TV spot from Volvo that thanks German drivers for making the Swedish company the number 1 brand for customer satisfaction in Germany.

Cleverly, the Swedes also say Dankeschön (thank you in German) to the country's car manufacturers such as Audi, BMW, Opel, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Porsche for their...participation, and all this under the beautiful sounds of Bert Kaempfert's famous tune, "Danke Schoen".

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VW Delivers its First N.A. 2012 Passat to Local Chattanooga Woman

Last Monday, Tennessee Arts Commission Chairwoman Ellen Hays received her new car. So what’s the big deal, we hear some of you ask? Thousands of people do the exact same thing every day.

What makes Ms. Hays case special is the fact that, although she wasn’t the first in the country (this distinction belongs to a man in San Jose, California), she was the first local to receive a new Passat built at VW’s newly constructed US Chattanooga plant.

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Video: Volkswagen Unleashes Guerilla Campaign for Small Up! City Car

To demonstrate how important size is when it comes to parking in modern day cities, Volkswagen launched a new guerilla campaign for its new Up! city car right outside the Frankfurt Motor Show hall.

In the early hours of the morning, the German company's marketing team covered a line of cars in textiles featuring a life-size print of the new Up!.

You can watch the video right after the break.

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Company Launches CD with Original Volkswagen Beetle Sounds

It may be too late for Father’s Day, but there’s nothing stopping you from picking up The Beetles: Greatest Sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s for dad as a very early Christmas present.

Not to be confused with The Beatles, a little known British band that has all but faded into obscurity, The Beetles is a CD of car sounds dating from 1960 to 1978. And not just any car sounds: Volkswagen Beetle car sounds…

Yes, you can now rock out to such timeless classics as “Gears 1 - 2”, “Long Idle” and “Turn-Off, Handbrake”. With 30 tracks (well, 10 tracks spread across 3 different engines), your dad will be over the moon will this mass produced one-of-a-kind CD.

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