2009 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon 22k No Reserve Salvage Rebuildable Damaged on 2040-cars

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Former Audi chief designer Wolfgang Egger leaves Italdesign

The latest word from the international community of automotive designers has it that Wolfgang Egger is leaving Italdesign, but just where the accomplished designer will land next and who will take his place remain big question marks. Egger is a designer who has bounced back and forth between Italy and Germany over the course of his career. He was born in Germany but studied in Milan. He began his career at Alfa Romeo in 1989 and was named its chief designer by 1993 before being head-hunted by the Volkswagen Group in 1998 to head up the design department at Seat. A few years later he went returned to Italy to run the Lancia design department, and was subsequently renamed to the same post at Alfa Romeo. In 2007 he went back to his native Germany to head up the Audi design office, over which he assumed complete responsibility by 2012, but left Audi in 2013 to run Italdesign. For those unfamiliar, Italdesign is the studio founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro (pictured at left next to Egger) back in 1968 but which, along with many other Italian design houses, fell on hard times in recent years. The Volkswagen Group swooped in to rescue the troubled studio in 2010, turning it into something of an in-house advanced design department to provide an alternative perspective on the direction in which the group and its various brands could take their respective designs moving forward. With Egger now leaving its helm, Italdesign and its German parent company will need to find his replacement, and we're sure they'll announce one in due course. The bigger question on our minds, however, is where Egger himself will head next. Given the path his career has taken to date, we wouldn't be surprised to see him land elsewhere in the Volkswagen Group or find a new role in the expanding Fiat Chrysler Automobiles empire. Then again, Egger could find it time to open an entirely new chapter. Watch this space. News Source: Car Design NewsImage Credit: Newspress Design/Style Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Audi Volkswagen designer italdesign giugiaro wolfgang egger

German prosecutors investigating Audi for emissions scandal

After weeks of investigation into Volkswagen by prosecutors in Braunschweig, Germany, attorneys in Ingolstadt will also begin an examination into Audi's potential role in the emissions scandal. They reportedly received multiple criminal complaints that requested an inquiry, including one from Audi, according to Bloomberg. The prosecutors in Ingolstadt want to focus on people within the automaker that are responsible for emissions. However, the investigation is still too early in the process to identify any specific suspects. The German lawyers might also eventually combine their cases, but they remain separate for now. "Braunschweig took those parts that are clearly located at Volkswagen and asked us to keep the elements limited to Audi," a spokesperson for the Ingolstadt attorneys told Bloomberg. Audi has 2.1 million vehicles worldwide with Volkswagen Group's emissions-cheating four-cylinder diesel, including an estimated 13,000-14,000 of them in the US. The Environmental Protection Agency also recently filed a second violation notice against the 3.0-liter TDI V6 that was used in several of the company's models here, and the automaker responded with a stop sale for them. VW Group's carbon-dioxide emissions cheating in Europe also reportedly involves some Audi models. In that case, engineers admitted to artificially improving test results to achieve the cuts that the automaker requested.

How the Volkswagen cheating probe developed

Fallout from Volkswagen's revelation that it engaged in cheating on emissions testing continued Monday, with the company's stock falling more than 15 percent and a Congressional subcommittee announcing an investigation into the German auto giant's conduct. Both the Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board served Volkswagen with a Notice of Violation on Friday, saying the company intentionally circumvented emissions standards by using "defeat devices." Here's a look back at the agencies' emissions enforcement history and how the charges involving Volkswagen developed. August 1998 – Honda spends $267 million to settle charges it violated the Clean Air Act by disabling "misfire monitoring devices" installed on more than 1.6 million vehicles. Ford spends $7.8 million to settle a charge it violated the Clean Air Act by installing defeat devices on 60,000 Ford Econoline vans. May 2014 – Working with the International Council on Clean Transportation, researchers at West Virginia University find significantly higher in-use emissions from a 2012 Jetta and 2013 Passat and alert the EPA to their findings. November 3, 2014 – Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia agree to pay a $100 million fine for overstating the fuel economy on several of their models by as much as six miles per gallon. In announcing the fine, government officials sought to make an example of the two companies to deter further cheating. VW officials admit the vehicles were designed with a defeat device to "bypass, defeat and render inoperative elements of the vehicle emissions control systems." "This type of conduct quite simply will not be tolerated," said then-Attorney General Eric Holder. "And the Justice Department will never rest or waver in our determination to take action against any company that engages in such activities – whenever and wherever they are uncovered." December 2, 2014 – Following discussions that stemmed from West Virginia University's findings, Volkswagen agrees to initiate a recall of 500,000 cars. The company says a software update will fix the nitrous oxide trap technology and selective catalytic reduction technology causing the cars to miss emissions thresholds. May 6, 2015 – CARB wanted to see whether the software fix implemented by Volkswagen worked. Using portable emissions measurement systems, the regulatory officials found NOx emissions were still significantly higher than expected.