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VW pondering low-cost sub-brand for China?

More detail is being sketched into the Volkswagen Group's plan to launch a low-cost brand for emerging markets. Late last year a German report quoted a VW rep saying that the brand has been interested in building a no-frills car, the kind that would challenge Dacia and Datsun, for a while. With both Proton and Suzuki effectively out of the partnership picture, a report in Reuters suggests VW could go straight to China, developing a car with its joint venture partners and building and selling it there.
Officially, company CEO Martin Winterkorn said the issue of a model for emerging markets would be decided this year but VW isn't any closer to confirming any kind of plan for a car in its portfolio underneath the Up!, remarking to Reuters about the China possibility, "That's an issue we're currently looking at."

Munich prosecutors arrest Audi employee in emissions probe

Munich prosecutors arrested an Audi employee on suspicion of fraud and false advertising in connection with the carmaker's emissions scandal, the first arrest in Germany related to Volkswagen's diesel scandal. The Audi employee was arrested on Monday, at the behest of Munich prosecutors, a spokeswoman for the Munich prosecutors office said on Friday. When asked if the arrest was at the request of US authorities, the spokeswoman said it was not. She did not give the name of the person. Munich prosecutors declined to comment on whether the arrested person is a current or former Audi employee. Audi and parent Volkswagen both declined to comment. On Thursday, the US Justice Department said it charged former manager Giovanni Pamio with directing Audi employees to design software to cheat US emissions tests in thousands of Audi diesel cars. Audi is a division of Volkswagen Group. The Munich prosecutor's office said the Audi employee was brought before a judge on Tuesday and was now being held in custody. The spokeswoman declined to discuss the possibility of the detained person being extradited to another country or comment on whether Munich prosecutors were in touch with US authorities. The German arrest was part of a wider probe into fraud and false advertising and is a consequence of "findings following searches," the spokeswoman said. In March, Munich prosecutors searched the offices of Jones Day, the lawfirm Volkswagen had hired to lead an internal investigation into its emissions scandal and Audi's headquarters. Volkswagen condemned the searches at the time, and never published the full findings of its internal investigation which was being conducted by Jones Day. The raids by Munich prosecutors in March sought to shed light on who was involved in the designing and using illicit software used in 80,000 VW, Audi and Porsche cars with bigger 3.0-liter engines. No members of the Audi management board are being personally investigated as part of that probe, the spokeswoman said on Friday. In the criminal complaint released by US authorities on Thursday, US prosecutors charged that Pamio ignored or suppressed warnings by certain Audi engineers that the pollution control systems being used on the brand's diesel engines violated US clean air rules. US prosecutors said Pamio had ordered subordinates to send false information to American regulators stating that Audi's "clean diesels" did not use technology designed to cheat federal pollution tests.

Will Audi's e-tron SUV's range match the Tesla Model X?

Tesla may soon get some competition from across the Pond when it comes to battery-electric SUV supremacy. Volkswagen's Audi division is preparing an SUV sized between its Q5 and Q7. And the company is suggesting that the model's single-charge range may challenge that of the Model X. Audi's battery-electric SUV, which was first shown off in a concept version at the Frankfort Auto Show in 2015, may start sales as soon as next year. More importantly, the model could have a single-charge range of more than 300 miles, UK's Autocar says, citing an interview with Audi executive Dietmar Voggenreiter. Granted, that estimate is likely for Europe's more generous NEDC cycle, which would put the range at closer to 250 miles by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. Still, 250 miles would beat the 200-mile range of the base-model Tesla Model X and would be in spitting distance of the 100D model's 295 miles. What that means for US customers - price, on-sale date, and range - is unclear. Audi spokesperson Amelia Fine-Morrison, in an e-mail to Autoblog, said it was "too soon to confirm the details," and that the automaker would disclose more information closer to the official launch date. Still, Audi has said it looks to have as much of 25 percent of its global offerings be electrified by 2025, so this will likely be a big step towards that goal. Then there's the question of how big the domestic market will be (not to mention how much the Audi SUV EV will cost). During the three months ended Dec. 31, 2016, Tesla delivered a quarterly-record 9,500 Model X vehicles, so there will obviously be high-end demand for an electric SUV from an established brand like Audi. Related Video: