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Skoda unveils Volkswagen Up!-based Citigo

This is the all-new Skoda Citigo, and if you're thinking that it looks rather familiar, that's because its Volkswagen-badged kin recently debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. That's right, the long-rumored Skoda version of Volkswagen's new Up! city car has finally arrived.
Buyers will have a choice of two 1.0-liter three-cylinder engines - one with 59 horsepower, the other with a 74 hp and a blistering 106 mph top speed - both mated to a five-speed manual transmission. Powerful they are not, but these three-bangers should prove to be extremely efficient, with Skoda quoting fuel economy numbers of 62.8 and 60.1 miles per gallon, respectively (on the European cycle).
Being a Skoda, the Citigo will go on sale in its home market of the Czech Republic this fall, with the rest of Europe getting the car next summer. Follow the jump for Skoda's official release.

VW announces reworked 6.0 W12 TSI engine

Nobody makes more engines with a dozen cylinders than the Volkswagen Group. They're W12s, of course, owing to the novel shape of their cylinder banks. Now the German industrial giant has announced a comprehensively reworked version of that engine at the same Vienna Motor Symposium where it presented its new 2.0-liter turbo four. The new W12 retains the same arrangement and the same 6.0-liter displacement, but updates it all with the latest powertrain tech. In place of Audi's FSI direct injection and Bentley's TMPI multi-point injection, the engine has adopted a new TSI system. It's also got a pair of new twin-scroll turbochargers, APS-coated cylinders, a new cooling system, active engine mounts, cylinder deactivation, and a stop/start system. And – crucially for application in the upcoming Bentayga – it has an oil circuit designed for off-road use. The revised package now produces 600 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. Considerably more than the 567 hp and 516 lb-ft offered in the Bentley Continental GT W12, but less than the GT Speed, which we suspect will get an even more powerful version of this new engine. It's also more powerful than even the top version of Audi and Bentley's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, to make the W12 a more compelling option. Of course that's just as far as the Continental GT is concerned. The W12 has also found use in the Continental GTC and Flying Spur, as well as the Volkswagen Phaeton and Audi A8, and could find further applications under the Flying B emblem and elsewhere in the future. VW says that in the right application (say, in the production version of the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept, for example), the new twelve-pot could deliver 0-62 times of under four seconds and a top speed in excess of 186 miles per hour. Volkswagen at the 36th International Vienna Motor Symposium Dr. Heinz-Jakob Neusser: "The car of the future will continue to fascinate people" - CO2 reduction, electromobility and digitalisation are the greatest challenges facing the automotive industry - The future of the internal combustion engine will be characterised by high rpm diesel and high-performance three-cylinder TSI engines - Laser roughening – innovative coating process in large-scale production - New 6.0 W12 TSI with 447 kW (608 PS) – performance and refinement - New generation of EU6 TDI engines for light-duty vehicles Dr.

Lamborghini has been developing an IPO strategy 'for a long time'

Porsche AG isn’t the only Volkswagen AG brand that has been quietly preparing for a potential initial public offering. Italian luxury-car maker Lamborghini has been developing a strategy how to present itself to stock-market investors since well before Volkswagen asked each of its brands to come up with virtual equity stories, according to the unitÂ’s Chief Executive Officer Stephan Winkelmann. “WeÂ’ve been working on this with other agencies in order to create clarity,” Winkelmann said. “As a brand, weÂ’ve done so for a long time, to show what worth, what value we have. Up until a little while ago, it wasnÂ’t so well known.” Porsche became EuropeÂ’s most valuable automaker last month, when its market capitalization overtook that of VW a week after its IPO in Frankfurt. The debut of the 911 maker was a bold move into public markets, which have been largely shut for most of the year. VW CEO Oliver Blume has said he sees the listing as a blueprint to unlock more value from the groupÂ’s brands that also include Audi and Bentley. “An IPO drill is exactly what you do to show the public how solid you are and what is in progress for the future,” Winkelmann said. “We have a clear story and strategy for that.” Audi, which oversees VWÂ’s premium brands, said last month there are no concrete plans for an IPO of Lamborghini. A previous push to potentially spin off the carmaker and motorcycle brand Ducati ran into opposition from labor leaders. Still, LamborghiniÂ’s recent profit gains -- including a 31.9% operating margin in the first half of this year -- make a solid case for a stock-market listing, said Michael Dean, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “An IPO is something that could potentially happen in the next 18 months, depending on market conditions,” Dean said. “A ˆ15 billion valuation is entirely justifiable and could be even higher, given the margin metrics.” LamborghiniÂ’s deliveries rose 8% to 7,430 vehicles in the first nine months of the year. Operating profit climbed 69% to ˆ570 million ($567 million). Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Lamborghini teases Huracan Sterrato tackling terrain