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Volkswagen bringing new Touran minivan to Geneva

Volkswagen is bringing a wealth of new metal to the Geneva Motor Show this year. Unfortunately little if any of it is ever likely to reach American shores. There's the new Passat Alltrack, the Golf GTD Variant and a trifecta of new vans: the facelifted Caddy, the revised Sharan and this, the new Touran. Smaller than the Sharan, the Touran is Germany's top-selling minivan and boasts over 1.9 million units sold to date. It was introduced to the VW passenger van lineup in 2003 and was replaced in 2010 with an all-new model. What you're looking at here is the third-generation Touran, based on VW's ubiquitous new MQB architecture. Most obvious is the new sheet metal that makes it look sharper and more in step with the rest of the German automaker's lineup compared to the model it replaces. But there's more to the new Touran than its skin. It's also nearly five inches longer, with most of that length added in the wheelbase to give it a more commodious cabin that's also been updated with the latest equipment and offers room for up to seven passengers. Despite the larger size, it's a good 136 pounds lighter than the outgoing model, so it promises better performance in both its driving dynamics and its environmental credentials. Prospective customers (in markets where the Touran is sold) will be able to choose from a range of three gasoline and three diesel engines ranging from 108 horsepower up to 187, burning as much as 19 percent less fuel than the outgoing model's lineup thanks to features like stop/start engine management and brake force regeneration. There's even a sporty R Line package to give it a little visual aggression. For better or worse, though, the US market will almost certainly be left out: reached for comment, our source at VW USA pointed out that the Touran and Sharan aren't big enough to fill the shoes left by the Routan - but that the upcoming three-row crossover will. Volkswagen presents the new Touran - Germany's best-selling MPV completely redeveloped - More room; smart new design - New engines up to 19 per cent more economical Volkswagen presents the new Touran. The completely redesigned MPV was showcased before an audience of international media representatives at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, not far from the production site where the popular family car is made. The interior of the new model has undergone a significant increase in size and is highly configurable.

The super-sized Atlas isn't the three-row VW should build

In the late '50s and early '60s the Volkswagen Beetle wasn't ubiquitous in my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, but it came pretty damn close. Fords and Chevys dominated, but beyond the occasional MG, Triumph, or Renault the import scene was essentially a VW scene. When my folks finally pulled the trigger on a second car they bought a Beetle, and that shopping process was my first exposure to a Volkswagen showroom. For our family VW love wasn't a cult, but our '66 model spoke – as did all Volkswagens and most imports at the time – of a return to common sense in your transportation choice. As VW's own marketing so wonderfully communicated, you didn't need big fins or annual model changes to go grab that carton of milk. Or, for that matter, to grab a week's worth of family holiday. In the wretched excess that was most of Motown at the time, the Beetle, Combi, Squareback, and even Karmann Ghia spoke to a minimal – but never plain – take on transportation as personal expression. Fifty years after that initial Beetle exposure, and as a fan of imports for what I believe to be all of the right reasons, the introduction of Volkswagen's Atlas to the world market is akin to a sociological gut punch. How is it that a brand whose modus operandi was to be the anti-Detroit could find itself warmly embracing Detroit and the excess it has historically embodied? Don't tell me it's because VW's Americanization of the Passat is going so well. To be fair, the domestic do-over of import brands didn't begin with the new Atlas crossover. Imports have been growing fat almost as long as Americans have, and it's a global trend. An early 911 is a veritable wisp when compared to its current counterpart, which constitutes – coincidentally – a 50-year gestation. In comparing today's BMW 3 Series to its' '77 predecessor, I see a 5 Series footprint. And how did four adults go to lunch in the early 3 Series? It is so much smaller than what we've become accustomed to today; the current 2 Series is more substantial. My empty-nester-view of three-row crossovers is true for most shoppers: If you need three rows of passenger capacity no more than two or three times a year – and most don't – rent it forgawdsake. If you do need the space more often, consider a minivan, which goes about its three-row mission with far more utility (and humility) than any SUV.

VW CEO Winterkorn issues video apology for diesel scandal

Amid rumors that he might step down from the automaker, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has issued a video statement publicly apologizing for the company's diesel emissions scandal. The boss claims that he doesn't have the answers to all of the questions yet but promises a thorough investigation to makes things right. Multiple times in the speech, he asks forgiveness from customers all over the world and asks people not to blame all of the company's 600,000 employees for this lapse. At no point does Winterkorn mention resigning, though. You can watch the whole clip above, but it's in German, so turn on the subtitles. However, Winterkorn's future with VW isn't assured, and works council boss Bernd Osterloh appears ready to make some changes. "I can assure you that we will do everything possible in the supervisory board meetings this week to ensure the matter is cleared up quickly and that personnel consequences are drawn. And that will not just affect the rank and file, I can assure you," he said in a letter to Bild, according to Reuters. Earlier today, the automaker admitted that the same engine management software is in vehicles from other VW group brands, but it claims that the Type EA 189 engine is the only one with a deviation between test results and real-world numbers. That mill is installed in 11 million vehicles across the globe. As a start, VW is earmarking 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion at current rates) to service them. The actual costs could go much higher, though.