Vw Thing , Runs Drives Very Well on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche engine wizard Wolfgang Hatz resigns

Wolfganag Hatz has resigned from his position as Member of the Porsche Executive Board with responsibility for Research and Development. He has held that title since 2011. Hatz's storied career came to an abrupt end in September when he was suspended pending investigation into the Volkswagen diesel scandal. Before the Porsche job, Hatz was the head of engine and powertrain development for the Volkswagen Group. It has been alleged that he is at the center of the investigation into the company cheating on emissions testing, but so far there has been no direct link made to him, according to Porsche's announcement today. Hatz has worked at a variety of European automakers, including Audi, BMW, Opel, and Fiat. He is considered the father of the BMW S14 engine, which powered the E30 M3, and also developed the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8. He was also very involved in Porsche's motorsports efforts, including the recent return to the prototype class and a short-lived F1 V12 engine project. Ulrich Hackenberg, most recently VW's lead engineer and a board member at Audi, was also suspended at the same time as Hatz and resigned shortly thereafter. It's not clear why Hatz waited so long to do the same, but Porsche claims his resignation was voluntary. Michael Steiner has been named Hatz's replacement as head of Porsche R&D. Steiner has been with Porsche since 2002 and seems like a forward-thinking sort, having headed the innovation and concepts division, lead Panamera development, and, most recently, been in charge of complete vehicle engineering. Prior to his time at Porsche, Steiner held positions at Daimler. The change in leadership is effective immediately. Related Video:

Brazil contemplates safety exemption for VW Kombi as it goes out of production today [w/poll]

Brazil: the country of carnivals, indescribable beauty adjacent to abject poverty, Ayrton Senna and old Volkswagen models. Only they're not old - they're new, they're just based on old designs. The original Beetle continued production there long after it had been phased out elsewhere, but the original Kombi van has lasted much longer. That ends today, however, with the iconic VW Microbus ambling out of production on the last day of 2013.
VW kept making the van in Brazil with the original air-cooled 1.2-liter boxer four until 2005, after which the original design was updated with a 1.4-liter water-cooled engine. Today, however, it ultimately falls prey to safety regulations that mandate that all vehicles - no matter how old their design - need to have airbags and ABS, forcing Volkswagen do Brasil to cease production of the Microbus after a 56-year production run. But the latest word is that the Kombi (as it's presently known) could get a stay of execution - or at least a resurrection in short order.
According to reports, the Brazilian government is looking into granting the Type 2 Microbus an exemption from said safety regulations, reasoning that the van was designed long before the advent of airbags and ABS. If the measure goes through, the Kombi Last Edition (pictured above) could prove not to be the last at all. So what do you think, should the Microbus get an exemption from Brazilian safety regulations for nostalgia's sake? Vote in our poll below, then have your say in Comments.

Texas sues VW over consumer protection, clean air violations

Texas has filed two suits against Volkswagen, charging that the automaker's emissions rigging violated state consumer protection laws and clean air standards. The lawsuit is part of a probe into the German automaker's diesel scandal being undertaken by 45 states and the District of Columbia. There are also over 250 class action suits that have been filed in US federal courts. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday that his state would seek restitution for consumers, and an injunction and civil penalties to prohibit future violations. Paxton, who himself has been indicted for securities fraud, said in a statement, "When companies willfully violate the public's trust, a penalty must be paid." Paxton said Texans purchased around 32,000 affected vehicles. There are about 49 authorized VW dealerships statewide. The Texas suit is asking for pollution fines of somewhere between $50 and $25,000 per vehicle (quite a spread, we know) for each day the vehicles were in use in the state. Volkswagen admitted in the middle of September that it installed devices designed to defeat government emissions tests on many Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars dating to model year 2009. Globally, 11 million VW group vehicles are affected. The automaker declined to comment to Bloomberg on the Texas lawsuit. Last month, Harris County, which includes Houston, filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against VW, alleging the automaker contributed to air quality problems. You can find PDFs of the two state lawsuits here (the deceptive-practices case) and here (the environmental case). The AP contributed to this report. News Source: Bloomberg Government/Legal Green Volkswagen Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal lawsuit