We're in Wolfsburg, Germany right now for the launch drive of the 2010 Volkswagen Golf and we've just returned from a presentation at the company's design center with Walter de Silva. We'll have more on de Silva's comments a little later, but first, we did have a chance to chat with VW of America CEO Stefan Jacoby about future products.
First up, despite de Silva's promise that VW wont do retro designs, there is a new New Beetle coming. When the NB debuted a decade ago, we lamented the fact that it officially carried the "New" prefix (unfortunately, Autoblog was not yet born so no one at VW heard our complaints). This time around it will just be called "Beetle." Contrary to some speculation that it might move to the NSF platform of the forthcoming Up! model, the Beetle will still ride on the Golf's chassis when it appears in two years. Jacoby didn't say how the next Beetle might change to meet de Silva's "no retro" statement, but it will continue to fill VW's niche quotient.
Speaking of niches, the Scirocco remains dead to us, despite the fact that Lower Saxony seems to be crawling with them. The problem, Jacoby explains, is that the Scirroco appeals to almost exactly the same buyers who opt for the GTI. Company research indicates that there would be almost no incremental sales increase with the Scirroco, instead it would just cannibalize the GTI. Why not just replace the GTI? Adding the coupe would be another niche product that requires more parts inventory, training, marketing dollars and so on. While we as enthusiasts might want another coupe, the numbers just don't add up for VW – especially when every Euro costs $1.47. Sorry.
A few months ago, we found ourselves aimlessly and fortuitously wandering around the nether regions of a Los Angeles based press fleet's deep storage unit. Total "no cameras" zone. We stumbled in deeper and deeper, past the A8s used for Transporter 3, past the bright pink Mattel Barbie VW Routan and matching pink Barbie New Beetle Convertible with a motorized make-up valise that emerges from the trunk. Suddenly, lo and behold, there's a red 2009 Volkswagen Polo in all its Euro-only glory. Can we drive it? No. Please? No. Come on, man – just a quick drive? No, also – no.
So why is a Volkswagen Polo socked away in the very back of a warehouse? For a commercial, man. And it's actually a pretty nifty commercial, reminiscent of the town square scenes in Back to the Future. They even use the same Universal Studios back lot to film the new Polo spot. However, instead Marty McFly leading Biff and the baddies into the back of a manure truck, the commercial transitions to a Grease-like drag race between the Polo and some sort of chopped '50s zeitgeist flame job convertible – we'll go with custom Buick Roadmaster (or... 1953 Packard). Anyhow, we're not going to spoil the ending, beyond letting you know that the Polo wins. Make the jump to watch the video.
Blaming the global economic slowdown, the builders of the first F1-X theme park in Dubai are saying their project is delayed until at least next year. The park was to become part of the "Dubailand" project that included the Dubai Autodrome, luxury condominiums and a business park (think of it like a Disney World for the Persian Gulf). However, banks and other financial institutions have pulled funding, putting the brakes on the half-built project. Union Properties, the company tasked with this venture, insists the project will eventually be completed... although it will obviously miss its planned opening originally set for later this year.
Besides the gradual thawing of most of the country, March means the beginning of the Formula One season as well as Sebring, the Geneva Motor Show, the Amelia Island Concours, and NASCAR ramping up to full speed. Those events alone would be enough to sate even the healthiest automotive appetites, but there's plenty more going on in the motoring world. As always, we tried to list the highlights as well as a few smaller events that we hope will be of interest to you. Feel free to use the comments section to add or modify listings.
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Besides the gradual thawing of most of the country, March means the beginning of the Formula One season as well as Sebring, the Geneva Motor Show, the Amelia Island Concours, and NASCAR ramping up to full speed. Those events alone would be enough to sate even the healthiest automotive appetites, but there's plenty more going on in the motoring world. As always, we tried to list the highlights as well as a few smaller events that we hope will be of interest to you. Feel free to use the comments section to add or modify listings.
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The current Volkswagen Golf (a.k.a. "Rabbit"), which is a 2010 model, hasn't made it through the front nine, and already the next Golf is being teed up behind it. The new model is planned for 2012, two years earlier than planned, perhaps because VW wants to recast what the Golf represents with a return to frugal-yet-sporty motoring. If these AutoExpress renderings are at all accurate, the reskin won't make your jaw drop, as there is little planned for the hatch's exterior save for a few tweaks. It is the philosophy of the car that takes a new stand, however: the Mk VII is rumored to ride on a smaller platform than the MkVI, borrow parts from the Polo, employ lightweight body panels, and get VW's Twin Drive plug-in diesel hybrid engines.more ...
You had to know it was going to end. Dubai's storied boom is starting to falter as the worldwide economic woes catch up with the nation's real estate and financial services-fueled good times. Abandoned cars are beginning to pile up at Dubai International Airport as overextended expatriates flee. Dubai throws debtors in the pokey, and if you lose your job, they yank your visa; two good reasons to drive to the airport and leave your maxed out credit cards on the passenger seat with an "I'm sorry" note. 3,000 cars are reportedly stockpiled at the airport so far, and with reports of 1,500 visas a day being cancelled, there may be a lot of dusty, cut rate luxury cars available for closeout prices.
It made its debut over the summer at Pebble Beach. It showed up again in November at SEMA. And finally, we have a set of our own live shots of the CC Gold Coast concept because Volkswagen sent the swanky 4-door to Chi-town. The Gold Coast is doused in a rich-looking brown finish dubbed "Pepe Pepper" by DuPont, and it adopts a squat, muscular stance riding on a set of KW coilovers. 19-inch wheels fill out the wells nicely, and a full ground effects kit brings the look even closer to the ground. Veedub's 280-horsepower 3.6 FSI V6 sits underhood, mated to a six-speed DSG. Stopping power on this looker is further enhanced with a set of the Audi R8's ceramic discs in front. While the CC Gold Coast is technically a concept, VW's making sure it gets in front of as many eyes as possible. Hence, we wouldn't be surprised to see the "concept" moniker eventually turn into "special edition" – minus those supercar stoppers.
This United Arab Emirates-registered gold-mirror-finish Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG was caught at the Bling on Wheels Show, otherwise known as the valet area at the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. While we have nothing untoward to say about someone who decks out his/her ride in any manner desired, we are always intrigued when someone looks to have spent the worth of a car – on top of the price of the car itself – on "beautification." There is some debate as to whether this is a real paint job or a wrap, but parking your gold-wrapped C63 next to a genuinely chrome SLR would be shamefully ludicrous. A C63 AMG goes for about 300,000 AED (about $82,000 USD). Unless gold paint bubbles out of the ground as well, a liquid gold paint job has to cost a good portion of that. And all for a C63? Really?
We just told you about Nissan's next-gen Patrol SUV and the fact that it might be coming to North America. While rumors have the engine options including a first-ever V8 for the model, the big news is the diesel engine co-developed with Renault that's slated to put out 405 ft-lbs. of torque. While that sounds enticing, apparently that won't be good enough for a certain impatient Dubai businessman. He went to tuner HKS and had them turn up the wick a bit on a current-generation Patrol while he's waiting for the new one.
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