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VW rearranges leadership as brand focuses on electrification

The Volkswagen overhaul continues into next year with a raft of new executive appointments that CEO Mattias Muller says will enable "Faster decision-making and more efficient action." One of the headline moves is Porsche head of design Michael Mauer taking over VW Group design, succeeding Walter de Silva who retired in early November after running the Group's styling bureau since 2007. Among the sheetmetal on Mauer's resume are the Mercedes SLK and SL from the late nineties, the 2007 Porsche Cayenne, the Panamera, and, most recently, the 918 Spyder. He will retain his current role at Porsche in addition to the new responsibilities. Here's hoping some of the excitement seen in the 918 filters its way down to VW's recently mundane offerings. Dr. Ulrich Eichhorn was head of Group R&D from 2000 to 2003, then went to Bentley, then left the company for the German Association of the Automotive Industry in 2012. He has been lured back to his old role in charge of Group R&D, taking over the shoes recently worn by Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, who resigned in early December while still suspended over his involvement in the diesel emissions fiasco. Ralf-Gerhard Willner takes over Group Product and Modular Toolkit Strategy, after leading development vehicle concept divisions at Audi and VW, and being technical director at Italdesign Giugiaro. He will play a huge role as VW evolves and expands its current platform strategy to include purpose-built electric cars and flat batteries. All those bottoms will be in chairs in Q1 of next year. The number of department heads that report directly to Muller has also been cut, giving Muller more time to focus on "overarching issues of the future." VW says that primary among them will be technology issues from EVs to digital integration. Back in October the company hired Thomas Sedran away from Opel as a lead strategist, his job being to figure out how each of those technical departments and the Group's brands navigate the marketplace and those "issues" from now until 2025. The press release below has more. Related Video: Volkswagen Group continues structural and staff realignment- Functions in CEO's area of responsibility reorganized- Muller: "Faster decision-making and more efficient action"Wolfsburg, 17 December 2015 - The Volkswagen Group is becoming more streamlined and speeding up its internal decision-making process. To that end, functions in the area of responsibility headed by CEO Matthias Muller are being restructured.

Porsche previews new 911 in development

Porsche has taken the rather unorthodox step of releasing a series of photos of a new vehicle before it reveals it in full, sans brightwork and covered in dirt. That model, as you can see, is the new 911, expected to feature a number of upgrades and some big changes over the 991-generation line it will replace. The photos give us an advance look at the update, with more details to follow. Likely to be dubbed (unofficially) as the 991.2 or 991.5, the new 911 will encompass the usual array of visual updates: revised bumpers, headlights, rolling stock, interior equipment... the works, as we saw from the most recent batch of spy shots. But the biggest change will be under the hood, where Porsche is expected to fit a new family of downsized, turbocharged flat-six engines to replace the naturally aspirated units in the current models, likely with more power and improved performance to boot. We expect the launch of the new 911 to kick off a raft of new versions to follow, including coupes, convertibles, and Targas (as you can see from the photos), as well as rear- and all-wheel-drive versions in various states of tune. The current generation, after all, bred a about two dozen versions, and you can bet the new one will lead to just as many, from the base Carrera all the way up to the Turbo. That will (as in the all-turbo Macan range) likely remain the flagship model, even after the forced induction no longer sets it apart. The GT3, GT3 RS and a new purist model are expected to be the only hold-outs for atmospheric pressure, but the widespread adaptation of turbocharged power will put another degree of separation between the new 911 and the naturally aspirated, air-cooled models of old. For more details, we'll have to wait until Porsche reveals the full monte, but for a taste of what's to come, look no further than the 19 high-resolution images in this slideshow. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Porsche 911: Testing View 19 Photos Image Credit: Porsche Porsche Performance porsche 991

World's largest toy car collection is in Beirut, and it's remarkable

It's common for auto enthusiasts to have a few miniatures of their favorite cars around their home or office. They provide a respite of happiness knowing that if you can't have the real things, at least you can look at them in miniature. However, Billy Karam of Beirut, Lebanon, has taken collecting toy cars to its extreme. His collection of over 30,000 model cars and 400 dioramas is certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest collection of car toys. "You cannot buy the big ones, so you buy a thousand of the small ones instead," says Karam in the video. Karam is a former amateur racing driver with a weakness for all things Porsche, and many of his dioramas depict races that he drove in or attended. Looking at them gives him a chance to relive the experiences again, but unlike a photo or video, they are right there in three dimensions. Scroll down to watch this astounding Cool Hunting video narrated by the collection's captivating owner. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Cool Hunting Video: World's Largest Toy Car Collection from Cool Hunting on Vimeo. News Source: Cool Hunting via VimeoTip: Reilly Toys/Games Porsche Videos Guinness World Records diecast toy car car collection