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Carmakers say they 'can't meet' Euro 6 emissions targets

UPDATE: A previous version of this story listed Euro 6 requirements in kilograms per kilometer. This was incorrect. The correct unit is grams of NOx per kilometer, or g/km. The story has been edited accordingly. Well, the timing of this is not good. In the midst of Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) is claiming it won't be able to hit the stringent Euro 6 nitrogen oxide standards currently slated for the end of the decade. Currently, European legislators are set to begin requiring tougher emissions standards by 2017. Standards would be ramped up until 2020, when all new cars sold across the pond would be required to emit just 0.080 kilograms of nitrogen oxide per kilometer. That's too tough for automakers, though. Citing an "EU insider," AutoExpress reports that automakers are asking for conformity factors, which is a fancy way of saying they want easier standards. The automakers are requesting a conformity factor of 2.75 from 2017 to 2020, and a factor of 1.7 in 2020. What that means is that by 2020, new diesels would be allowed to emit 1.7 times the 0.080 g/km standard, or 0.136 g/km. While that might not be all that bad, if automakers were granted the 2.75 conformity factor, new diesels from 2017 wouldn't even be eligible for today's Euro 5 classification, AE claims. Far and away the most astonishing thing here though, is the way the ACEA is viewing the VW diesel scandal. According to AE, the EU insider said automakers across the pond think there's "a US conspiracy against European diesels." Yep. Volkswagen installed software on millions of vehicles to cheat emissions tests and it's somehow an American conspiracy. That makes loads of sense. To put it simply, automakers don't think their diesels will be able to hit European standards, so they're asking for a break. Whether European legislators go along with it remains to be seen. Related Video:

Europeans get first crack at new Golf Variant wagon

Just last week, when we brought you news of a new Volkswagen Golf variant out and testing in Europe, we had no idea we were being so literal with out description. For it seems that VW has every intention of calling its new Golf wagon, making its Geneva debut, the "Golf Variant."
Odd/interesting sobriquets taken as read then, there's a lot to like about this new small wagon from VW. The Variant will shed some 232 pounds in this generation, and will come to market with two efficient TDI engines. Volkswagen isn't giving us displacement figures for either yet, but we're told the diesels will come with outputs of 110 and 150 horsepower. The 110-hp TDI BlueMotion Varient will be good for a whopping 71.3 miles per gallon on the European cycle, when mated to the six-speed manual transmission.
The German automaker has brought along an all-wheel-drive 4Motion version of the Gold Variant to bow in Geneva, as well, and a natural gas-burning TGI BlueMotion is said to be "in the pipeline."

Hyundai tops VW and Buick in China, survey says

You may be aware of the long-time competition in China between Volkswagen and Buick, but another brand apparently should be in that conversation too: Hyundai. In a recently published annual consumer survey, the Korean company actually took the top spot to beat out its German and American rivals in second and third, respectively. The results were part of the China Brand Power Index that interviewed 11,500 people around the nation and was paid for by the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. While Hyundai proved popular with voters, its sales haven't necessarily shown that yet. According to Bloomberg, the brand had falling numbers in China for the first quarter of the year. Even Ford outsold the South Korean automaker in the same period, despite scoring lower on the survey. Meanwhile, Audi ranked as the populace's favorite luxury brand, which is hardly a surprise given the Four Rings' strong sales in China. In January alone the automaker saw a 15-percent boost in volume there. Parent company VW's strong performance was somewhat more surprising, though. State media severely criticized the German automaker in March, and customers protested last year for the allegedly poor handling of a recall.