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Volkswagen promises more aggressive design for sedans, crossovers

Every one of our Volkswagen Jetta and Passat reviews is guaranteed to include this word in the comments, aimed at its exterior design: "Boring." The brand says that's all about to change, telling a group of journalists during a tour of its design studio in Wolfsburg that designs will be more market specific; as Automotive News put it, that means "more aggressive" designs for the US that "will bare their teeth and flex their muscles," since the solid-yet-unoffensive look hasn't got VW past its two-percent market share here. Yes, we've heard this before from the Volkswagen Group - Audi has been promising to pump up the volume on its designs for years now, we're still waiting to hear that music. But VW brand head designer Klaus Bischoff says that the look of the coming midsize crossover that will come in around the size of the Audi Q7 "has to be bold. It has to be a statement," and the results of US focus groups have already dictated design changes to the original idea. AN said it takes cues from the Cross Coupe GTE, with a notched grille, sculpted hood, and deep character lines along the flanks. It sounds like baby steps for other models, though. The Passat gets a brand new design forward of the A-pillar, and new taillights. The new Tiguan has a shorter front overhang and a longer rear overhang, rounded wheel arches, and gets 2.2 inches longer. There'll be a long-wheelbase version of the Tiguan that grows by eight inches, which should give it livable room for four passengers in front and back. Beneath that will be a Golf-based crossover to compete in the compact segment with the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3. Featured Gallery Volkswagen Cross Coupe GTE: Detroit 2015 View 18 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Live images copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Design/Style Volkswagen Crossover Sedan volkswagen design

Automakers drop support for Trump effort against California emissions

WASHINGTON — Toyota, Fiat Chrysler (now known as Stellantis following its merger with Peugeot) and other major automakers said on Tuesday they were joining General Motors in abandoning support for former President Donald Trump's effort to bar California from setting its own zero emission vehicle rules. The automakers, which also included Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Subaru, said in a joint statement they were withdrawing from an ongoing legal challenge to California's emission-setting powers, "in a gesture of good faith and to find a constructive path forward" with President Joe Biden. The automakers, along with the National Automobile Dealers Association, said they were aligned "with the Biden administrationÂ’s goals to achieve year-over-year improvements in fuel economy standards." Nissan in December withdrew from the challenge after GM's decision in November shocked the industry and won praise from Biden. On Monday, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia to put the California emissions litigation on hold to "ensure due respect for the prerogative of the executive branch to reconsider the policy decisions of a prior administration." Biden has directed agencies to quickly reconsider TrumpÂ’s 2019 decision to revoke CaliforniaÂ’s authority to set its own auto tailpipe emissions standards and require rising numbers of zero-emission vehicles, as well as Trump's national fuel economy rollback. Asked to respond to the automakers' action, White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said in a statement that "after four years of putting us in reverse, it is time to restart and build a sustainable future, grow domestic manufacturing, and deliver clean cars for America." California Governor Gavin Newsom praised the automakers on Twitter for "dropping your climate-denying, air-polluting, Trump-era lawsuit against CA" and urged them to join the voluntary framework. TALKS WITH BIDEN Separately, an industry trade group on Tuesday proposed to start talks with Biden on revised fuel economy standards that would be higher than Trump-era standards but lower than ones set during the prior Democratic administration. The Trump administration in March finalized a rollback of U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards to require 1.5% annual increases in efficiency through 2026, well below the 5% yearly boosts under the Obama administration rules it discarded.

Volkswagen CrossBlue Coupe is a green fun-machine we want to drive

Think back to January's Detroit Auto Show. Those of you that are fans of the Volkswagen brand, impressed with green technology or simply fall into the "diesel geek" category, will almost certainly remember VW's CrossBlue concept with its diesel/electric hybrid powertrain, seating for seven, and somewhat awkward crossover styling. It was an impressive piece of future tech, to be sure, though it left something to be desired in the, well, desirability department.
Here in Shanghai, VW has brought along a CrossBlue Coupe concept that would seem to include most of the goodness of the original, but flavored with more sport and style this time around.
The CrossBlue Coupe makes use of the same electric drive components as the larger three-row concept: two electric motors (front and rear) powered by a 9.8-kWh lithium-ion battery. However, where the original concept made use of a TDI four-cylinder, the Coupe substitutes a 295-horsepower, direct-injection, gasoline-burning V6.