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Despite EV push, Audi will lead hydrogen for VW Group

The cynics among us will assume that Volkswagen Group would rather not affix its flagship brand name to its main hydrogen fuel-cell efforts in the wake of that German automaker's diesel-emissions scandal. Instead, there's less of a taint in having those efforts led by VWs Audi division. And that's exactly what's going to happen, reportedly. Audi will lead Volkswagen's way towards selling hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to the general public, Automotive News Europe reports, citing comments Audi's new development head Stefan Knirsch recently made at VW headquarters in Germany. That first effort may come in the form of the H-Tron Quattro concept SUV that Audi unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January. That model is slated to have a 373-mile range on a full tank of hydrogen (using the optimistic European driving cycle) and includes a rooftop solar panel that can add 621 miles a year via sun rays. And true to Audi's performance-driving bent, the car will offer up to 282 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, for a 0-62 miles per hour time of under seven seconds. Audi will also look to cut production costs by reducing precious metals such as platinum in fuel-cell stacks. As for plug-in vehicles, Audi said at last November's Los Angeles Auto Show that as much as 25 percent of new Audis will be plug-in vehicles by 2025. A month later, Audi said that the A3 E-Tron, which was launched in Europe in late 2014, was already accounting for a quarter of Audi sales in the Netherlands and Norway. Related Video: Featured Gallery Audi H-Tron Concept View 25 Photos News Source: Automotive News Europe-sub.req. Green Audi Volkswagen SUV Hydrogen Cars

VW, Fiat, Mercedes could be CNG winners in Europe

Fiat ads in the US try to play up the exotic, sexy side of Italian culture. On the home front in Italy, however, passenger-vehicle sales are marked by something less edgy and quite a bit more practical: the growth of compressed-natural-gas (CNG) powered car sales. In fact, Italy is leading a group of European countries where CNG sales are on the upswing and may be benefiting automakers like VW, Fiat and Mercedes-Benz, according to Automotive News. VW started sales of its Golf TGI natural-gas vehicle this year – the company's fourth in Europe – while Mercedes-Benz added a natural-gas B-class model. Fiat accounts for about 50 percent of CNG vehicles sold on the continent. In all, Europe's CNG sales through September totaled about 67,000, up seven percent from a year earlier, Automotive News Europe says, citing research firm JATO Dynamics. And the number of CNG vehicles on Europe's roads could jump tenfold within the next decade. The draw is a combination of lower refueling prices and a CNG drivetrain that typically emits less CO2 than diesel vehicles. As for Italy, about five percent of new-vehicle sales are CNG. To put that into perspective, hybrids, battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and diesels combined to account for about 4.2 percent of US vehicle sales last year. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Volkswagen Green Fiat Mercedes-Benz Volkswagen Natural Gas Vehicles CNG

Golf tees up new sales for VW

If you consider the Passat and the CC two different lines, Volkswagen USA lists nine different models on its website, and they have sold a total of 238,074 units in the US this year through the end of August. The Golf, which was voted North American car of the year in 2015, and its variants account for 44,416 sales, an increase of nearly 150 percent compared to the same period last year. That's also the most Golfs ever sold in that time in the US, and almost 19 percent of this year's entire brand sales. This is compared to a compact car segment that has gained just 1.1 percent compared to 2014. A number of factors are responsible, according to a report in Automotive News: the MQB platform allows different powertrains to roll down the same assembly line; VW USA product planners can now configure vehicles to suit our market and they work with a selection of dealers to refine the retail offering; and the Golf maintains its proper European driving experience. The expanse of the Golf range has meant not only increased profits and new buyers, but more breadth in the buying demographic - expanding outward from the standard Golf to five different extremes, from the e-Golf to the Golf R. Room will be made for a new kind of consumer next year when the current Sportwagen model goes all-wheel drive with an Alltrack designation. Unsurprisingly, VW USA says, "Golf is a role model for the US for us. We want to learn from our success and implement those lessons in our future model planning." After decades of uneven effort, perhaps that formula plus a long-awaited range of crossovers can finally deliver on the promise of the US market. Related Video: