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VW Group plan puts Porsche in charge of a 'super-premium' division

An Automobile report looks into what's happening on the organizational and technical sides of the Volkswagen Group, and what those changes could mean for the premium brands. The wide-angle view is that Porsche appears to have been anointed to "coordinate the future activities" at Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini. Audi would cede Lamborghini guardianship to Stuttgart, and Ducati — via a new concern called Ducati Enterprises — would become the shepherd for VW's other Italian investments. Executives target Jan. 1, 2019, to complete the reshuffle. VW wants to save a boodle by tying up four of its five top-tier brands, and putting the one with the highest ROI in charge. Porsche, within its own house, wants to reduce expenditures by $2.3 billion per year over for four years, the savings already earmarked for improving internal processes like R&D and production. Having Porsche share those gains as well as lead development of platforms, components and future-tech strategies for the sister sports car brands could benefit everyone. In the near-term, the brands have their own plans: Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann is said to want a Chiron Superleggera, a roofless and "completely reskinned" Chiron Aperta, and a track-only Chiron SS. The Superleggera could take the Chiron Sport's and Divo's Jenny Craig routines even further. The Aperta seems a natural successor to the Veyron Grand Sport, a natural evolution of the recently introduced Sky View roof, and a reskin might include numerous Divo cues. It's also said Bugatti's considering "an all-electric high-end model" in conjunction with Porsche, Rimac, and Dallara, but name one supercar or hypercar manufacturer that isn't considering a lightning-fast EV. Lamborghini, deep into work on follow-ups for the Huracan and Aventador, might get a bit of a bump with the new plan. The carbon "monofuselage" for the next V12 flagship is said to be too far developed and too complex to scrap. It puts two electric motors on the front axle, batteries in the middle, and a naturally aspirated V12 with around 770 horsepower plus another e-motor with 402 horsepower in back. The Huracan is said to get a version of the same carbon architecture at the moment, but the corporate reorganization might press pause on it. Automobile says options include continuing the Huracan/ Audi R8 twinning, but that depends on Audi saying "Ja" to a third-gen R8 with Lamborghini bones.

European jury picks finalists for 2015 Car of the Year

There are countless Car of the Year awards handed out each year, and naturally, Europe has its own way of doing things. Every year, a panel of jurists representing seven publications in seven different languages and seven different countries get together to name their joint Car of the Year. The panel released a list of 32 candidates back in July, and it has now whittled that list down to seven nominees. The list consists of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroen C4 Cactus (shown), the Ford Mondeo, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Nissan Qashqai, the Renault Twingo and the Volkswagen Passat. Of those seven, only two are available in the US – those being the Mondeo (sold Stateside as the Fusion) and the C-Class. The Passat is an entirely different model in North America, the Qashqai isn't offered here, Citroen and Renault don't even participate in our market and the BMW 2 Series is represented here only by the completely different coupe and convertible. Expect the one and only recipient of the 2015 Car of the Year award to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, and while you're waiting, you can place your guesses for the eventual winner in Comments. Featured Gallery 2015 European Car of the Year: Nominees News Source: CaroftheYear.org BMW Ford Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Citroen Renault car of the year nissan qashqai citroen c4 cactus bmw 2 series active tourer

Daily Driver: 2015 Volkswagen CC

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 Volkswagen CC Executive, reviewed by Seyth Miersma. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. And don't forget to watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Hi, guys. This is Seyth with Autoblog, and I'm driving the 2015 Volkswagen CC. The version of the car I'm in is the VR6 4motion car, so it's got a six-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive. This six-cylinder is actually a little bit of an odd duck at this point for the class. It's a 3.6 liter V6. It makes 280 horsepower, 265 pound-feet of torque. It's really living in a world that's been [00:00:30] overtaken by potent, two-liter turbos. I think something that's particularly difficult, especially in light of what I know about the Volkswagen family, the new engines getting great fuel economy. The 1.8T and obviously the TDI are real champs in that regard. Unfortunately, this VR6 is really sucking down the premium. These days, a 20 MPG combined rating is not particularly good. This definitely isn't a sports car. If you throw it hard into a corner, it leans a little bit, you can feel some roll [00:01:00] through the suspension. Handling is tidy, but it's not particularly precise. Of course, it's not really meant to be. This is a car that's meant to be great on the highway, great cruiser, look pretty stylish, and with a good powertrain, it can be exciting enough. Because you're not getting anything else that's very sports car-like about this car, other than the power delivery, and even there it's not quite on-pace with some of the sporty sedans that you can buy for right around the same money. It just makes for an interesting mix; something that's a little bit fast, [00:01:30] not very fuel-efficient, not a great handler, not a premium badge. Let's cut down right to it. This car is $44,400 and some change. Again, the VR6 4motion Executive Trim level, which means it pretty much gets everything you can get in a CC. We've got leather seats; they are heated. They have a massaging seat on the driver's side. I've got some 18-inch wheels that look pretty good. Big head unit with touch-screen and [00:02:00] navigation, satellite radio, better sound system. Just in general, the car feels very well-appointed. It feels like an entry-level luxury car.