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VW recalling 2.64M vehicles worldwide over engine, light issues

Volkswagen is staging a massive, worldwide recall that's already grown from 1.68 million to 2.64 million vehicles and covers three different issues across a number of vehicles. We already reported on 61,000 Tiguans getting recalled over lighting issues - that was just in the US. Globally, however, VW will be recalling 800,000 Tiguans, according to Automotive News, with the focus on CUVs built between 2008 and 2011. The issue with the Tiguan relates to a simple fuse swap, so this is rather unremarkable, aside from the sheer number of vehicles being fixed. The real, troubling issues relate to gearboxes and pickups.
239,000 Amarok pickups (pictured right) are being recalled over fuel leaks, while 1.6 million vehicles are being recalled to swap the synthetic oil in dual-clutch transmissions with mineral oil. Now, the transmission issue is one for the global Volkswagen Group to address, not just the VW brand - vehicles from Audi, Škoda and Seat use the same seven-speed DSG and are covered under the recall, as well.
Why the switch from synthetic to mineral oil? Apparently, using the synthetic oil in a DSG and then subjecting it to stop-and-go conditions or heavy loads in a hot and humid climate can lead to electronic malfunctions, according to a Volkswagen press release. The switch, from the sounds of it, is largely a preventative measure.

VW readying CC Shooting Brake?

This was bound to happen. Volkswagen's relentless drive for big volume has the brand mining seemingly every niche it can find for additional sales worldwide. And with its CLS Shooting Brake, fellow countryman Mercedes-Benz has already shown that a wagon based off of a "four-door coupe" can look dead sexy and command extra dollars. So it follows that the Volkswagen CC (whose existence is all but directly attributable to the success of the original CLS sedan) will also get a load-lugging variant. That's according to the UK's Autocar, which notes that the five-door will come in the CC's next generation.
According to the report, the next CC will be available in front and all-wheel drive variants with the usual assortment of gas and diesel four-cylinders found in the Wolfsburg empire, with the possibility of a gas plug-in hybrid model, too. The rakish estate will ride atop VW's MQB architecture, a shorter variant of which is also found underneath the new Golf. The scalable chassis is set to spread like kudzu throughout the company's lineup, but the CC probably won't happen until after the launch of the next European-market Passat in 2015.
Will we get it in North America? Hard to say. Volkswagen sells the standard CC saloon here, but not in particularly large numbers, and when the company moved to a North American-specific Passat, it dumped the wagon variant. The traditional VW estate apparently continues to pick up sales momentum abroad, however, making the CC Shooting Brake a seemingly natural fit for buyers who still want the utility of a two-box form but can afford to sacrifice a bit of cargo room in the name of style.

Piech and Winterkorn still at odds about VW leadership plan

Volkswagen Group Chairman Ferdinand Piech (above, right) and CEO Martin Winterkorn (above, left) will be meeting in the coming days to discuss who the next leader of the Volkswagen Group will be. This, of course, comes after a report last Friday in Der Spiegel where Piech said he didn't want Winterkorn to be the automaker's next chairman. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that conference room. As Automotive News reports, Winterkorn had been widely viewed as the probable replacement for the 77-year-old Piech, until last week, when the current chairman said he was keeping the CEO "at a distance," in the German paper. While Winterkorn confirmed to German media on Monday that he still had a job, analysts aren't sure what Piech's comments will mean for the 67-year-old CEO's future, with some indicating he may end up being a "lame duck" leader. According to AN, Piech doesn't think that Winterkorn has the vision to lead the sprawling Volkswagen Group empire, even though the current CEO has the support of a number of other VAG stakeholders. "Piech knows what he is doing and will assume that he can get the supervisory board to implement his decisions," former BMW executive turned analyst Helmut Becker told German media, AN reports. Winterkorn has just over 18 months left on his contract, while Piech's term has another two years left on it, meaning it will still be some time before we find out how the Volkswagen Group's leadership issues play out.