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VW Super Bowl teaser with Jimmy Cliff is like a less-mean Tosh.0 Web Redemption

Reggae super-duper-star and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Cliff has been using music to send positive vibes out into the universe for decades now, so its no surprise that his message on behalf of Volkswagen is one of redemption.
Dubbed Sunny Side, this web-spot is VW's warmup of sorts for what promises to be another blockbuster year in the world of Super Bowl commercials. Without giving away the game, the euphonious commercial sees Cliff opening his arms and his heart to some YouTube 'celebrities' that might see courser treatment from the likes of Tosh.0, for instance. We can't help but be reminded of Coca-Cola's legendary 1971 Hilltop spot with the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" lyric, too.
Enjoy the pre-Super Bowl VW spot below, and don't forget to pay it forward... your karma will thank you. For those of you that just can't get enough of commercial-making magic, we've included a "making-of" video, as well.

VW Up Buggy may be headed to showrooms

Volkswagen showed six conceptual takes on its Up at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, one of those being the Up Buggy. Although few will probably remember it, VW has not forgotten it, applying for a patent for the Meyers Manx revival roadster way back in March 2012 and being approved in June of this year, according to a report in Autocar. That will give the automaker a 14-year lock on the design while it decides whether to move forward with a reboot of its past.
A patent doesn't mean the Up Buggy will ever move beyond the sheet-of-paper stage, but Autocar says VW is studying the market to see if a production version is feasible. We can't see North America ever getting it, but even so, we wouldn't complain if they made it - especially if they put an exposed engine in back that was set off by 18-inch-long twin tailpipes jutting straight up into the air. However, for a company that aims to be the world's number-one automaker by 2018, a niche vehicle for its mass-market brand would be a surprising use of resources.

More German automakers may be afoul of US emission standards

Volkswagen has plenty of smoke to share, and that may mean fire for other German automakers that make diesel vehicles, says Automotive News. Earlier this month, European Federation for Transport and Environment said that BMW, Daimler's Mercedes-Benz and General Motor's Opel division are among other automakers that may have equipped their vehicles' diesel engines with similar software as VW's. That software was found to reduce emissions while a car is being tested for emissions and shuts down emissions-control systems during normal use. The European environmental group used data from the International Council on Clean Transportation. Automotive News notes that the European environmental group put out its own report earlier this month, before the VW scandal broke loose, but the report was pretty much overlooked. Now, VW is under fire after it was discovered that 2.0-liter diesel engines in the VW Jetta and Golf, and Audi A3, may be programmed to game the emissions system. VW sold almost a half-million diesel vehicles in the US during the past six years. Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz told Automotive News that the issue that befell VW doesn't apply to their diesel vehicles. Earlier this week, Volkswagen admitted its car ran the sneaky software, while the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started a probe on the company. VW is setting aside more than $7 billion to pay for the alleged violations. Meanwhile, US taxpayers may have spent as much as $51 million a year to pay for subsidies related to VW's diesel vehicle sales in 2009 alone, according to the Los Angeles Times.