2008 Volkswagen Passat Turbo Wagon 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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VW fix would have cost $335 per vehicle

Since the Volkswagen diesel kerfuffle began, Bosch, the world's largest auto supplier, has been hooked up to a bullhorn trying to make sure everyone knows its side of the story. Bosch supplied VW with the engine management testing software, including delivery and metering modules, that VW then used to skirt emissions laws in the US. Bosch told VW in 2007 that it was illegal to use the software in cars it planned to sell yet VW did it anyway, according to reports coming out in German newspapers Bild am Sonntag and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. That first warning came two years after VW started developing the small-displacement diesel, around the time that the two men pushing its development, then-brand chief Wolfgang Bernhard and engineer Rudolf Krebs, were telling their superiors that the engine needed AdBlue urea injection to pass US emissions. VW cost controllers wouldn't approve the AdBlue solution because it would add 300 euros ($335 US) to the cost of the vehicle. Bernhard and Krebs left the same year that Bosch advised VW about the software, two years before the engine went into production. That's when things get cloudy. A report in Automotive News says that when Martin Winterkorn took over in 2007 as head of the VW Group and brand, he asked Ulrich Hackenberg and Wolfgang Hatz to keep working on the engine, and "[the] engine then ended up in VW Group diesels" with that problematic software still intact. No one has yet pointed any fingers at this latter chain of command, but like a game of Clue, right now they're the professors in the library holding the candlesticks. Warnings didn't only come from the supplier: Frankfurter says VW's initial investigation has found that an engineer issued the same caution to the company in 2011. Neither Bosch nor VW would comment on the reports.

Audi CVT suit settlement given green light, 64,000 cars covered

Audi drivers, listen up. If you bought or leased a 2002-06 model-year A4 or A6 with a factory-installed Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that failed, you may be entitled to reimbursement under a recently settled class-action lawsuit with corporate parent Volkswagen.
According to Automotive News, the settlement covers about 64,000 vehicles and alleges that "manufacturing and design problems caused the transmissions to fail and left owners stuck with repair costs." While the suit also argues Audi was aware of these issues (going so far as to hide that knowledge from consumers), the settlement stops short of acknowledging any wrongdoing by the German automaker.
Audi drivers are eligible for a cash reimbursement if their CVT repairs occurred within 10 years or 100,000 miles of the date they bought or leased the vehicle before June 19, 2013. To be eligible for compensation, drivers must submit a claim form (found here) with supporting documents by November 18.

Volkswagen promises more aggressive design for sedans, crossovers

Every one of our Volkswagen Jetta and Passat reviews is guaranteed to include this word in the comments, aimed at its exterior design: "Boring." The brand says that's all about to change, telling a group of journalists during a tour of its design studio in Wolfsburg that designs will be more market specific; as Automotive News put it, that means "more aggressive" designs for the US that "will bare their teeth and flex their muscles," since the solid-yet-unoffensive look hasn't got VW past its two-percent market share here. Yes, we've heard this before from the Volkswagen Group - Audi has been promising to pump up the volume on its designs for years now, we're still waiting to hear that music. But VW brand head designer Klaus Bischoff says that the look of the coming midsize crossover that will come in around the size of the Audi Q7 "has to be bold. It has to be a statement," and the results of US focus groups have already dictated design changes to the original idea. AN said it takes cues from the Cross Coupe GTE, with a notched grille, sculpted hood, and deep character lines along the flanks. It sounds like baby steps for other models, though. The Passat gets a brand new design forward of the A-pillar, and new taillights. The new Tiguan has a shorter front overhang and a longer rear overhang, rounded wheel arches, and gets 2.2 inches longer. There'll be a long-wheelbase version of the Tiguan that grows by eight inches, which should give it livable room for four passengers in front and back. Beneath that will be a Golf-based crossover to compete in the compact segment with the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3. Featured Gallery Volkswagen Cross Coupe GTE: Detroit 2015 View 18 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Live images copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Design/Style Volkswagen Crossover Sedan volkswagen design