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VW could fight Uber Black with Porsche and Audi vehicles

Last week, the Volkswagen group dumped $300 million into Gett, a taxi hailing-cum-ride sharing app that's big outside of the US. Now, the company has revealed that it's pondering a rival to Uber Black by offering private drivers access to its higher-end vehicles. Details are scarce since it's a single line reference in a very long press release, but VW says that it's looking at a "special chauffeur service" that features "premium brands, such as Audi and Porsche." What that looks like in reality is anyone's guess, although the idea of getting ferried around in an Audi RS 7 does have some appeal. The deal with Gett will concentrate on getting Volkswagen cars into the hands of Gett's drivers with the promise of juicy discounts. For instance, the firm will offer a special package that'll bundle car insurance and servicing with the purchase price, which can be paid by a would-be operator in installments. It's a similar deal to the one that Uber offers would-be drivers, letting them buy cars from manufacturers like Volkswagen, Ford and Toyota at a discount. Uber, however, also lets prospective cabbies rent their vehicle on a monthly basis, thanks to a deal with Enterprise. Both of which will likely become more muscular now that Uber has a further $3.5 billion in its back pocket. The troubling fact for the auto industry is that people will still need cars, but it's likely that they won't need as many as they do right now. On-demand services and self-driving vehicles are, after all, intended to shuttle around cities like an ersatz taxi-cum-metro system rather than sitting in parking lots. The concepts of ownership that we currently hold dear (and the profits that car companies get from them) are likely to fade away in the next, say, fifty years time. As such, conglomerates like VW will have to reinvent themselves as both manufacturer and transport company in one. But these changes are never easy, especially when the biggest car firms have tons of baggage that slows down their progress. Many are still devoting time and resources to producing thousands of new cars with combustion engines that will be on the roads for years to come. Looming in the shadow, however, is the emissions scandal, with the financial and reputational penalties likely to be felt for years to come. Younger, more nimble rivals without legacy businesses, like Tesla, are working on mass-producing electric cars for mass-market prices.

Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport delivers track-only thrills for $165K

Among the cars on display in Los Angeles, production and concept cars are normal. Racers, though, are rather rare. And race-specific models that can be had for less than $200,000 are more or less unheard of. Don't tell that to Porsche, though, because the German automaker has introduced the new Cayman GT4 Clubsport for the relatively reasonable sum of $165,000. For that supercar-worthy price, you'll be getting a number of race-derived parts. As we covered in our preview post, that will include a strong roster of safety equipment, including a full roll cage and six-point harnesses that will keep you pinned in a purposeful racing bucket. The standard 18.5-gallon fuel tank can be replaced with an optional 26.5-gallon setup, while a central fire extinguisher keeps things from getting too hot out on the track. Mechanically, the Clubsport adjusts the Cayman GT4 formula for the track. The road car's 3.8-liter flat-six engine is still mounted amidships, but it's paired with super-quick, six-speed dual-clutch transmission, the critically acclaimed PDK. It's the suspension, though, that sees the most dramatic changes, as Porsche has pressed the front and rear strut suspension from the 911 GT3 Cup into duty for the GT4 Clubsport. The new system is lighter, and contributes to the track star's 2,866-pound curb weight. That's nearly a 100-pound drop over the road car. A set of four 15-inch steel rotors clamped by six-piston calipers up front and four-piston units in the rear should deliver stopping power as impressive as the cornering and acceleration. Amateur racers interested in the new coupe can purchase it directly from Porsche Motorsports North America for competition in the 2016 racing season. Homologation is still being hammered out, but Porsche expects the GT4 Clubsport to be certified for the "VLN Long Distance Championship Nurburgring, the Ultra 94 GT3 Cup Challenge Canada, the PCA Club Racing Cayman GT4 Clubsport Trophy East as well as for other club-level competition events around the world." Read on for the official press release. New Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport for the racetrack World premiere in Los Angeles LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Porsche has added a new sports car for amateur and club racing to its Motorsports fleet: The Cayman GT4 Clubsport celebrated its world premiere today at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Next-gen Porsche Panamera loses its buttons

We have our first interior images of the next-generation Porsche Panamera. Caught undergoing testing in what looks like the area around Ann Arbor, MI, Porsche's second-gen sedan ditches the multitude of buttons found on the center stack of today's cars in favor of touch-capacitive controls. The new look works on the interior. It's clean and stylish, and the overall layout is clearly inspired by the Panamera Sport Turismo concept. We're particularly fond of of one of the features absent on the concept car – the wide, high-resolution infotainment screen. Judging by the lack of a dedicated controller on the center stack and the screen's proximity to where the driver's right hand would be, this is almost certainly a touchscreen. According to our spies, the software on that screen will be shared with Bentley, as will the Panamera's underlying platform. The new steering wheel, meanwhile, looks like it's been plucked straight from the 918 Spyder. There's a very visible protrusion at the four-spoke wheel's four o'clock position, and the button layout on the spokes looks identical to the hybrid hypercar. On the 918, this controller manages the hybrid systems, but as our spies claim this is the gas-powered Turbo S model, we aren't really sure what role it will play as we can clearly see drive mode controls on the center console. Speaking of the Sport Turismo, this prototype backs up the argument that the next Panamera will adopt the cleaner look of the 2012 Paris Motor Show concept. Even with the camouflage, the C-pillar and rear quarter window, squared-off trunk aperture, and the four LED accents in the headlights are clearly inspired by the Sport Turismo. However, the concept's most dramatic feature – its strong hatchback profile – doesn't seem to have made the transition into this prototype. We'd expect to see the new Panamera in either Geneva or Paris. The Swiss show is the unlikely choice, though, considering it's just over a month away and Porsche already has another big debut planned. So expect the new Panamera in the City of Light. Sales should begin some time in 2017.