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EPA message to automakers: You're on notice

With top administrator Gina McCarthy speaking about the "moral obligation for climate action" on Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would ramp up its oversight of the auto industry in the wake of Volkswagen's emissions cheating. In a letter sent to manufacturers Friday, the agency said it would begin examining cars to see whether they contained defeat devices "in addition to the standard emissions test cycles." "We are putting vehicle manufacturers on notice." Exactly how the agency plans to test for these devices – which are not devices per se, but algorithms contained in millions of lines of software code that govern vehicle functions – remains unclear. Christopher Grundler, the director of the EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, divulged few details in how the agency would uncover so-called defeat devices used by cheaters. "Not today – or actually ever – I'm not going to be describing what new ways we'll be using to detect these defeat devices." Later, he said engineers will have to "come up with some clever ways to do this." The only insight he offered was that the EPA, California Air Resources Board, and Environment Canada would partner on testing more cars for emissions and anomalies. Grundler also said the EPA would diversify its testing fleet. In addition to relying on vehicles provided by manufacturers, the federal agency will now also borrow cars from "private citizens" and utilize rental cars for tests. "We are putting vehicle manufacturers on notice," he said. Joint investigations between EPA and CARB have "been very successful in protecting human health and the environment," said Janet McCabe, the agency's acting administrator in the Office of Air and Radiation. "But we also know, and the Volkswagen violations before us now make it clear, we need to adapt and step up our oversight." That may include an increase in on-road testing in addition to the five emissions tests now more relied upon. The EPA owns and maintains 23 portable emissions-monitoring systems like the one used by West Virginia University researchers who first detected elevated levels of nitrogen oxide emissions from two Volkswagen diesel vehicles. Right now, they're almost exclusively deployed to monitor emission from heavy-duty vehicles, whose NOx emissions "dwarf" the amount produced by light-duty vehicles, which produce less than 2 percent of the total, according to the agency's figures.

The VW Sport Coupe GTE Concept promises exciting things for brand's future [w/video]

In recent years, it seems as though the Audi allotment of design talent from the Volkswagen Group has gotten braver, while the VW designers have become more conservative. One look at the current Volkswagen range reveals a lot of tidy sheet metal, but hardly any that rank as evocative or emotionally compelling. If the rhetoric around this Sport Coupe GTE Concept turns to action, however, VW's mass-marketed cars could become a lot more interesting to look at. Sharp creases and bold graphics can be found on just about every inch of the concept, and the large wheels at either extreme corner help to sell this as a "four-door coupe" more than most executions of that now hackneyed styling term. And, if you like what you see, then you might want to hold out for quickly approaching versions of this look on production models. Design head Walter de Silva says this language will be "shaping the immediate future" for VW product. Mechanically, the Coupe also previews more hybridization for the VW line. The concept has a plug-in hybrid powertrain, with a turbo 3.0-liter V6 driving the front wheels, and an electric motor sending yet more power to the rear. You can read up on the details in our official post from a few days ago, or just click through the pretty pictures in the gallery above. SPORT COUPE CONCEPT GTE MAKES WORLD DEBUT AT THE GENEVA AUTO SHOW Four-door coupe marks beginning of a new design era at Volkswagen Wolfsburg/Geneva, March 2015 -Volkswagen will debut the Sport Coupe Concept GTE at the 2015 Geneva International Motor Show, heralding a new and progressive Volkswagen design language. "Evolution and revolution come together in the Sport Coupe Concept GTE. This concept is based on Volkswagen design DNA, which has been visibly sharpened even more. It shows how the highest-volume brand of our Group is shaping the immediate future," says Walter de Silva, Head of Design of Volkswagen AG. Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Development, elaborates: "This breathtakingly dynamic coupe is unlike any other to appear in this class. The design of the Sport Coupe Concept GTE is an impressive alternative to the classic sedans of the B and C segments-it has the style of a sport coupe that is enriched by the functionality of a large hatchback and the interior space of a sedan." Klaus Bischoff, Head of Design of the Volkswagen Brand, adds: "The Sport Coupe Concept GTE is another milestone of expressive design.

Volkswagen lays off 500 Chattanooga workers

The redesigned Volkswagen Passat has been a decent seller since its debut in 2011, but sales have apparently dropped off enough that the automaker is trimming some of the employees from its Chattanooga, TN assembly plant. According to Automotive News, Volkswagen will be cutting shifts and laying off 500 contracted workers in response to slowing sales.
Currently, the plant has three teams running 10-hour shifts Monday through Saturday, but starting May 13, this will be reduced down to two teams running 10-hour shifts Monday through Thursday. This will be done to reduce dealer inventory (the article says that VW dealers, on average, have a 97-day supply of Passats) and production capacity (currently running at an annual pace of 170,000 units, which is more than the 150,000 annual units the plant was planned to produce).
This, of course, isn't saying that the Passat has been a failure since VW added 200 full-time employees to the plant in February 2012 to keep up with increased demand. The AN article says that automakers frequently overstaff plants during the launch of a new product - or in this case, a new product and a new plant - but eventually reduce the workers as things run smoother and more efficiently.