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If VW defaults on loans it may sell Bentley or Lamborghini

If something goes catastrophically wrong with Volkswagen Group's recent $21 billion loan, brands like Bentley or Lamborghini could hit the auction block. According to two insiders to Reuters, the beleaguered German automaker agrees with its creditors to sell assets if the company somehow can't pay back the debt in a year. One of these anonymous people claimed the company hasn't yet deliberated over what to sell. However, the sources were willing to speculate that the power engineering portion of Man could be among the first to go. "Volkswagen may also consider divesting luxury car brands Bentley and Lamborghini or motor bike brand Ducati, although these units don't really move the needle," an insider said to Reuters. VW Group negotiated with the banks earlier this week to get the massive loan. The cash is necessary as a buffer in case the automaker doesn't have enough money on hand to repair vehicles or settle upcoming fines. VW would reportedly issue bonds in the spring to begin paying the debt. The company's bills will start racking up quickly in the new year. German authorities mandate a recall there in early 2016, and repair campaigns in the US for the 2.0- and 3.0-liter diesel engines are inevitable. There are also hundreds of class-action lawsuits to settle. The company needs to resolve its CO2 emissions scandal in Europe, too. In response to these financial threats, VW management created a cost-cutting plan to slash the research and development budget by $1.1 billion next year.

Recall on VW diesels begins in January, Mueller claims

A recall on Volkswagen's diesel vehicles with cheating software has been inevitable since the scandal first came to light, but there has been little official word on a timeframe for the fix. The automaker's new CEO Matthias Muller has finally put a tentative date on repairs, though. "If all goes according to plan, we can start the recall in January. All the cars should be fixed by the end of 2016," Muller said to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Reuters reports. While this plan affects Europe, the timing for repairs in the US could be slightly different. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to test the fix first here to make sure that it brings the vehicles in line with emissions regulations. Before the scandal came to light publicly, VW already tried a software update, but the California Air Resources Board still found NOx levels to be too high. Some experts have speculated that whatever the automaker comes up with this time could affect performance and fuel economy. To make lemonade out of these very sour lemons, Muller is trying to position the scandal as a chance to change. "This crisis gives us an opportunity to overhaul Volkswagen's structures," the CEO said, according to Reuters. "We want to make the company slimmer, more decentralized and give the brands more responsibility." Still, the effects are definitely being felt inside the automaker. When addressing employees recently, Muller admitted the necessity of cutbacks and the likelihood of setting aside even more money to pay for international fines and settlements. "What isn't absolutely vital will be canceled or delayed," he said. Related Video:

VW confirms Golf GTD diesel coming to US for 2016

Part of the Volkswagen Golf recipe that has helped the car sell more than 30 million units in just under 40 years is the number of variants in which the hatchback is offered. Building on that range here in the US, Automotive News is reporting that we will finally be getting the sporty Golf GTD, likely as a 2016 model. It's the GTD, you'll recall, that crosses the performance abilities of the venerable GTI with a powerful and fuel-efficient diesel engine.
After speaking with Andreas Valbuena, Volkswagen product manager for the Golf, AN not only says that the GTD will for sale in the US in a couple years, it also estimates a baseline price of around $27,000, which would place it between the current pricing for the GTI and the Golf R. The GTD is launching in Europe this summer, but we won't be getting the seventh-generation Golf in the US for another year. The news about the performance diesel model isn't entirely unexpected - VW officials have been hinting at it for at least a year now, going so far as to import a sixth-generation model for media test drives on US soil, a task we happily took them up on last year.
The Mk VII GTD uses VW's 2.0-liter TDI engine with output increased to 184 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, allowing the car to sprint to 60 miles per hour in about seven seconds while returning more than 40 mpg in highway driving. We can't wait.