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VW fix would have cost $335 per vehicle

Since the Volkswagen diesel kerfuffle began, Bosch, the world's largest auto supplier, has been hooked up to a bullhorn trying to make sure everyone knows its side of the story. Bosch supplied VW with the engine management testing software, including delivery and metering modules, that VW then used to skirt emissions laws in the US. Bosch told VW in 2007 that it was illegal to use the software in cars it planned to sell yet VW did it anyway, according to reports coming out in German newspapers Bild am Sonntag and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. That first warning came two years after VW started developing the small-displacement diesel, around the time that the two men pushing its development, then-brand chief Wolfgang Bernhard and engineer Rudolf Krebs, were telling their superiors that the engine needed AdBlue urea injection to pass US emissions. VW cost controllers wouldn't approve the AdBlue solution because it would add 300 euros ($335 US) to the cost of the vehicle. Bernhard and Krebs left the same year that Bosch advised VW about the software, two years before the engine went into production. That's when things get cloudy. A report in Automotive News says that when Martin Winterkorn took over in 2007 as head of the VW Group and brand, he asked Ulrich Hackenberg and Wolfgang Hatz to keep working on the engine, and "[the] engine then ended up in VW Group diesels" with that problematic software still intact. No one has yet pointed any fingers at this latter chain of command, but like a game of Clue, right now they're the professors in the library holding the candlesticks. Warnings didn't only come from the supplier: Frankfurter says VW's initial investigation has found that an engineer issued the same caution to the company in 2011. Neither Bosch nor VW would comment on the reports.

New Audi A5 to debut in Ingolstadt on June 2

Audi will introduce the second-generation A5 during a late-night lightshow at its Ingolstadt, Germany, museum on June 2. In the announcement, the company only called out the standard model, but a new S5 coupe is probably not too far behind. Details on the next A5 have been scarce, and spy shots haven't revealed much. Our most recent images come from June of last year and show a vehicle that more or less follows the current A5's theme – a two-door A4 with a few small visual tweaks to distinguish it from the sedan, including a wider stance. Expect an interior treatment very similar to the A4's as well. The new coupe's mechanicals should mirror those of the four-door as well. The A5 will likely stick with a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder (the A4's currently makes 252 hp) and ditch the current car's eight-speed automatic transmission for a new seven-speed dual-clutch. Unlike the sedan, the coupe is likely to continue offering a six-speed manual, as it is positioned as a sportier option even if it shares the A4's platform. Front-wheel drive will be standard, while Quattro all-wheel drive will be the one to buy. The S5 should definitely offer a manual again, along with the S4's 354-hp turbo 3.0-liter V6 and standard all-wheel drive. A seven-speed dual-clutch will be an optional extra, again, just like on the S4. Timing of the new A5's arrival appears to have shifted. A leaked product roadmap originally called out April 2016 for the A5 and S5 hardtop and May 2016 for the Cabriolet versions. Based on the June 2 debut, it looks like Audi pushed those dates back, so we'd expect the new convertibles to make their debut sometime in July. The new A5 is pegged to arrive as a 2018 model. We'll have all the details on the new A5 Coupe when it debuts early next month. Related Video:

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.