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VW close to decision on selling Bugatti to Rimac

FRANKFURT — Electric hypercar maker Rimac Automobili and Volkswagen's supercar brand Bugatti are a good technological fit, Porsche's CEO told German weekly Automobilwoche, fueling hopes that a deal between the two could happen soon. British automotive magazine Car last year reported that Volkswagen was on the verge of selling Bugatti to Rimac Automobili, citing sources. In exchange, Porsche, also owned by Volkswagen, would raise the 15.5% stake it owns in Rimac, founded by Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac, Car said. "At the moment there are intense deliberations on how Bugatti can be developed in the best possible way. Rimac could play a role here because the brands are a good technological fit," Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said. "There are various scenarios with different structures. I believe that the issue will be decided by the group in the first half of the year," said Blume, who also sits on the management board of parent Volkswagen. Rimac has developed an electric supercar platform, which he supplies to other carmakers, including Pininfarina. Blume also confirmed higher savings targets for Porsche, saying the carmaker plans to support results by 10 billion euros ($12.1 billion) of cost cuts by 2025, up from 6 billion previously. Related Video:

2015 Volkswagen GTI: Clicking, beeping, and trying to stay cool [w/video]

My first car didn't have air conditioning. Well, that's not entirely true. The car had A/C, it just didn't work. Nevertheless, I survived summer after summer of sweating behind the wheel – par for the course in a 15-year-old Mitsubishi with 235,000 miles on the odometer. But it's another thing entirely when that same experience happens in a 2015 Volkswagen GTI after just 7,000 miles of use. That's how Autoblog kicked off summer with the long-term GTI: sweating in plaid seats. The car went to Suburban Volkswagen in Troy, MI, where the technicians told me the air-con just needed a recharge (despite asking them to inspect it further). They recharged it, the air blew cold, and 48 hours later, the A/C stopped working again. (Surprise!) The problem was a leak in the compressor/condenser line, so a new one was installed, the system was charged, and now it's fixed. For real this time. Unfortunately, that second-coming happened during a road trip with editor-in-chief Mike Austin at the helm. His logbook comments are, as you'd expect, appropriately salty. "Everybody loves the GTI, right? Not quite. I drove to Toronto for a weekend. On the way home, the A/C quit working. This wasn't too much of a problem until we hit the border control line to re-enter the United States. I always pick the slow line, somehow. Thusly baked in the heat, with outside temperatures above 80, the GTI didn't cool back down for the rest of the trip. Then I learned we already fixed the A/C once." "Of course, any car on that day with a surprise A/C failure would earn my ire," Austin notes. "It just seems a little more irritating on a new car. Otherwise, yeah, this is a great car." A great car, indeed. Everyone loves spending time with the GTI. It's got plenty of power, it's quiet, it's comfortable, and it eats up highway miles. We've got just over 10,000 miles on the odometer as of this writing, and as summer carries on, many editors have requested extended periods of seat time in the GTI for weekend getaways and longer road trips. But it's still not perfect. Following the A/C fiasco, there's another, more curious problem plaguing the GTI. Every time the car starts, a weird, varied-tempo, loud clicking is heard from the dash. We think it's coming from the direction of the glovebox, and it's not the same click patten every time. Sometimes it's one or two knocks, sometimes it's several. See what I mean in the video below. Weird, right? Another trip to Suburban Volkswagen offered no help.

EPA discovers defeat device in more VW TDI engines

In a sternly worded letter, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has issued a new set of allegations against Volkswagen claiming that so-called emissions defeat software has been found in the company's 3.0-liter TDI V6 diesel engines. This is a completely different engine than the 2.0 TDI that has already been identified as an emissions cheater. In addition to VW, the EPA has included Audi and Porsche in this notification, as the non-compliant engine has been used in vehicles from all three manufacturers from model years 2014 through 2016. The EPA claims that cars equipped with the 3.0 TDI engine know when they are being tested for emissions, and their on-board computers switch into a mode designed to pass the stringent requirements in the United States for diesel exhaust. Vehicles sold in the United States with this engine include the 2014 VW Touareg, 2015 Porsche Cayenne, and 2016 Audi A6, A7, A8L and Q5. The EPA says there are 10,000 vehicles currently on the road with this second defeat device, along with an unknown number of 2016 models either on dealer lots or in the driveways of consumers. According to the EPA, VW's 3.0-liter TDI, like the 2.0 TDI that was found to circumvent US regulations, has code in its computer specifically written to intentionally put the vehicle's engine into a mode that allows it to meet exhaust requirements. When the vehicle is unhooked from testing equipment, it will go back into a mode that emits nine-times higher nitrogen oxide emissions than is allowable under US law. "VW has once again failed its obligation to comply with the law that protects clean air for all Americans," said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for the Office for EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "All companies should be playing by the same rules. EPA, with our state, and federal partners, will continue to investigate these serious matters, to secure the benefits of the Clean Air Act, ensure a level playing field for responsible businesses, and to ensure consumers get the environmental performance they expect." Richard Corey, Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board, said in a statement, "Today we are requiring VW Group to address these issues. This is a very serious public health matter. ARB and EPA will continue to conduct a rigorous investigation that includes testing more vehicles until all of the facts are out in the open." This story will be updated as new information becomes available.