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Honda wins Commercial of the Decade, but not for the ad you think [w/VIDEO]

Honda's Commercial of the Decade: "Grrr" - Click above to watch video
The mad men at Adweek recently voted for the Commercial of the Decade (Super Bowl commercials not included) and Honda took top honors over memorable ads from the last ten years by companies like Nike, Budweiser and Sony. That's not a big surprise considering Honda often puts a huge amount of effort into its on-air spots. However, the Japanese automaker didn't win for the commercial you might have expected: "Cog." Though Honda's famous commercial that breaks down a European Accord Tourer into a Rube Goldberg-esque machine was also a finalist, it was beaten by another Honda commercial called "Grrr" that's narrated by Garrison Keillor of all people. You've probably never seen it, but you can after the jump.
Volkswagen also made the list of finalists, but the particular ad chosen out of all the comical VW ads we've seen was unexpected as well. Most surprising carmaker with a commercial in the finals: Saturn. Who knew...

VW confirms development of 10-speed dual clutch, 134-hp/liter diesel

Each year, the Vienna International Motor Symposium showcases some of the up-and-coming technologies automakers are engineering for the use in passenger cars, and Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn revealed some big developments VW is working on for its future products. Winterkorn discussed a multi-faceted approach that VW is looking to reduce its fleet fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
Some of the bigger news he discussed included a "high-performance" diesel engine that will produce 134 horsepower per liter and a 10-speed DSG automatic transmission. While no specific applications were mentioned, we can only hope this is for the Audi R4 we keep hearing about.
Another topic he touched on that caused us to perk up our ears was had to do with VW's plug-in hybrid technology. While we know the PHEV versions of the Audi A3 and Porsche Panamera are on the way, Winterkorn also said that these two models will be followed up by Golf, Passat, Audi A6 and Porsche Cayenne plug-in models. Scroll down for a press release highlighting the automaker's future fuel-saving initiatives.

VW's diesel problems could end in criminal prosecution

It's not just auto industry insiders who are re-evaluating their thoughts on VW's diesel line-up following last week's bombshell accusation that the German automaker willfully installed software in almost a half-million diesel vehicles sold in the US to get around government emissions tests. Things are moving fast in what is already being called "dieselgate," but here are some of the big news items that we've learned since VW CEO Martin Winterkorn issued an apology yesterday. The biggest news is that both the US and German governments are looking into criminal prosecutions. Here, the US Justice Department has started a criminal investigation and Germany said that its Federal Motor Transport Authority will get involved. When the full history about all of this is written, two key players will be John German and Peter Mock from the International Council on Clean Transportation. They were the researchers responsible for actually calculating the emissions, and thus discovered that what was coming out of the tailpipe and what VW was telling the EPA did not match up. Once the EPA understood what was going on, it forced VW to either explain things all of its 2016 models would not receive certification. Sales of all VW diesels in the US have indeed been stopped, and the EPA says it will take a closer look at all light-duty diesel vehicles in the US. The re-engineered 2016 Volkswagen Passat is being launched in New York today. Two senior Volkswagen executives who were supposed to attend the event - Heinz-Jakob Neusser, VW's board member in charge of technical development and Herbert Diess, chairman of the VW brand's management board - have cancelled. An Audi vehicle is among the VW Group's vehicles affected by this issue, the A3 TDI. Given that VW has admitted in some fashion to installing the "defeat device" to get around the emissions tests, Audi's slogan "Truth In Engineering" now sounds less than perfect. Yes, there is already talk of class-action lawsuits. Nothing official is out yet, but expect to hear more about this in the near future.