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2015 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen First Drive [w/video]

Volkswagen currently offers five Golf models in the US, and in just a few weeks it will add the 2015 SportWagen to the lineup. The previous version sold as the Jetta SportWagen, although it was technically a Golf. For the new model, VW product planners decided to align all the hatchbacks under the same name. The SportWagen employs the same engines as the Golf, but significantly stretches its new MQB architecture. The result is greater practicality in the form of cargo room. With the seats up the SportWagen holds 30.4 cubic feet, almost 8 more than the Golf. The gap widens to nearly 14 cu ft with the seats folded; a max capacity of 66.5 cu ft puts the SportWagen into compact crossover territory. That added functionality leads VW to think it can sway buyers shopping the likes of the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. And with the high-mpg diesel variant – 31 mpg city, up to 43 highway – VW hopes to lure those considering fuel-sipping MPVs like the Toyota Prius V and Ford C-MAX. What separates this Golf from those other two segments is the driving prowess we've come to expect from Wolfsburg's best-selling nameplate. While the silhouette is similar to the outgoing Jetta wagon, designers honed the character lines to give the Golf SportWagen a more modern, angular aesthetic. The LED headlights look sharp, the hood now scoops down at a steeper angle into the front fenders, and the general proportions – in line with other Golf models – have changed. The new SportWagen is lower, longer, and wider and than the Jetta SportWagen it replaces. Specifically, it is 1.1 inches longer, 0.7 inches wider, and despite being about an inch lower, actually boasts more headroom. Inside, things look pretty familiar to the current Golf family. There are small, premium touches such as a sporty, flat-ish-bottom wheel, piano-black trim, and an optional one-touch panoramic sunroof that makes the cabin a bright, airy, and pleasant place to be. Otherwise, it's your standard Golf fare, but with a whole lot more room out back. The same two engines that power the standard Golf – the 1.8-liter turbocharged inline-four TSI, and 2.0-liter turbocharged TDI diesel – are also found under the hood of the SportWagen. Gasoline-powered models come with a five-speed manual or a traditional six-speed auto, while the TDI gets six-speed transmissions across the board – either as a row-your-own manual, or a dual-clutch DSG auto with steering wheel-mounted paddles.

2015 will be the biggest year ever for cars at CES

Like the SEMA Show, major automakers are paying increasing attention to the CES, with 2015 expected to be one of the most auto focused yet. Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, Hyundai, Mazda, Audi, BMW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will all be in attendance when CES 2015 kicks off next week, taking up a record-breaking 165,000 square feet of space at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "We've come a long way from a single car on a carpet," Ford's Alan Hall told Bloomberg. Unlike SEMA, or a more traditional auto show, like the upcoming festivities in Detroit, CES doesn't necessarily focus on entire cars or the way they perform, but on the way our technology will interact with vehicles, and in how those vehicles will deliver information to drivers. "CES has become a major launch point for a lot of the big automakers," IHS tech analyst Mark Boyadjis told Bloomberg. "CES is a way for them to get on a global stage for technology." As for what kind of wares automakers will trot out in Las Vegas, we already know that BMW will show off an autonomous i3 electric car that can navigate its way through a multistory car park and can be hailed via a smartwatch app. According to Bloomberg, Hyundai will show off its own smartwatch app for the Genesis sedan, while Audi and Mercedes-Benz will show off autonomous vehicles next week. Automakers won't be the only companies looking to capitalize on CES. Tech firms, like chipmaker Nvidia, are becoming increasingly involved in the automotive game and will be in town showing their wares off to OEMs. "Two years ago, our booth would have been filled with PCs and people playing video games," Danny Shapiro, Nvidia's senior director for automotive business, told Bloomberg. "This year we made a strategic decision to shift the focus of the booth on automotive and de-prioritize some of the other things." Needless to say, you can expect to see a lot of news out of Las Vegas come next week. Stay tuned. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Julie Jacobson / AP CES Audi BMW Chrysler Fiat Ford GM Hyundai Mazda Toyota Volkswagen Technology CES 2015

YouTube's Super Bowl commercial buzz list dominated by automakers [w/videos]

After Sunday's big game, YouTube will be the place to watch every commercial that you missed when you left your seat for an emergency guac refill or, as we say in Cleveland, took the Browns to the Super Bowl. That makes YouTube the nation's water cooler on Monday, and it's got some preliminary stats to share in the lead up to kickoff.
As you know, Super Bowl advertisers, particularly automakers, like to endlessly tease their big budget commercials in the weeks before the game, many times revealing them outright days in advance. Because of this, YouTube can tell us which commercials have been viewed the most so far, and their top five list is all automakers.
Kaley Cuoco appears to have been a good investment for Toyota, as her ad for the RAV4 has garnered the most YouTube views - six million and counting - among Super Bowl commercials so far. Second place goes to Mercedes-Benz, though not its actual Super Bowl commercial, but rather the teaser for it. You know, the one with Kate Upton and the car washing, which is up to 5.6 million views. Third place is Audi's Prom commercial (3.3M views), fourth goes to Volkswagen's slightly controversial Get In, Get Happy ad (3.3M views), and the fifth and final spot is bookended by the teaser video for Kaley Cuoco's commercial (3.2M views). You can watch all five in order below.