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VW recalling 2.64M vehicles worldwide over engine, light issues

Volkswagen is staging a massive, worldwide recall that's already grown from 1.68 million to 2.64 million vehicles and covers three different issues across a number of vehicles. We already reported on 61,000 Tiguans getting recalled over lighting issues - that was just in the US. Globally, however, VW will be recalling 800,000 Tiguans, according to Automotive News, with the focus on CUVs built between 2008 and 2011. The issue with the Tiguan relates to a simple fuse swap, so this is rather unremarkable, aside from the sheer number of vehicles being fixed. The real, troubling issues relate to gearboxes and pickups.
239,000 Amarok pickups (pictured right) are being recalled over fuel leaks, while 1.6 million vehicles are being recalled to swap the synthetic oil in dual-clutch transmissions with mineral oil. Now, the transmission issue is one for the global Volkswagen Group to address, not just the VW brand - vehicles from Audi, Škoda and Seat use the same seven-speed DSG and are covered under the recall, as well.
Why the switch from synthetic to mineral oil? Apparently, using the synthetic oil in a DSG and then subjecting it to stop-and-go conditions or heavy loads in a hot and humid climate can lead to electronic malfunctions, according to a Volkswagen press release. The switch, from the sounds of it, is largely a preventative measure.

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.

VW going turbo-only in 3 to 4 years

This really was a matter of when, rather than if. Volkswagen will apparently be the first manufacturer to phase out naturally aspirated engines in favor of turbocharging its full slate. VW is kind of responsible for ushering in this push towards small-displacement, turbocharged engines that's taken the industry by storm. When it dropped its direct-injection, 2.0-liter turbo in the 2005 GTI it demonstrated that strapping an iron long to an engine can enhance the powertrain as a whole. VW made fuel economy gains, while also giving a linear, non-laggy turbo experience that it has replicated, model-after-model, to this day.
Speaking with The Detroit News, Volkswagen's executive Vice President of Group Quality, Marc Trahan, told the paper that, "We only have one normally aspirated gas engine, and when we go to the next generation vehicle that it's in, it will be replaced. So three, four years maximum."
Really, it's hard to get teary-eyed about either of these engines going away. VW has access to smaller powerplants that could easily match the performance of the 2.5 five-cylinder and the 3.6 V6, while gobbling up less fuel and providing a better driving experience. What we are sad about is that a similar statement about the extinction of NA engines came from the Vice President of Powertrain Engineering at Ford, Joe Bakaj. We'd certainly get teary-eyed over a world without Ford's excellent 5.0-liter V8.