New Indy engine could be delayed, three manufacturers in the mix

Competition is a good thing, right? If so, IndyCar racing is slated to improve within the next few years as the series branches out to include multiple engine suppliers. As it currently stands, Honda, which has been the sole engine supplier for IndyCar since 2006, will continue with its current contract through the 2010 season at least. IndyCar organizers would like to have a few new contracts in place by 2011, but the slow economy and fewer dollars earmarked for motorsports may push that date off until 2012.
In addition to Honda, which would like to stay in the series, Audi, Fiat, Porsche and Volkswagen are all currently negotiating with the racing league to offer alternative powertrain options. The current engines all displace 3.5 liters and are limited to 10,300 rpm, making about 650 horsepower running on ethanol fuel. The next contract will likely call for engines displacing 2.0 liters and feature turbocharging and direct injection. Both four cylinder and six cylinder options are being considered.
[ Via: USA Today ]
[ Tag: indy racing league, indycar, indycar engine, indycar racing, indycar series, indycar turbo, IndycarEngine, IndycarRacing, IndycarSeries, IndycarTurbo, IndyRacingLeague ]

Audi A4, Q5 could be built Stateside

Taking a lesson from BMW, who have been successfully manufacturing cars and SUVs in Spartanburg, South Carolina for more than a decade, Audi may seek manufacturing capabilities for their A4 sedan and Q5 SUV in the States. The new Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, just announced last week, may be tasked with building upwards of 200,000 vehicles per year -- including the two Audis. Estimated to cost $973.5 million, the 1,359 acre plant is large enough to handle the domestic production for VW, Audi, and even shareholder Porsche... although the proud automaker from Stuttgart vehemently denies even considering it.

[ Via: Automotive News ]
[ Tag: 2009 A4, 2009 Q5, 2009A4, 2009Q5, A4, Audi, BMW, chattanooga, Manufacturing, Porsche, Q5, Volkswagen ]

Volkswagen unveiling two-door Elise fighter in LA, new sports car

Over the past five years, Volkswagen has continued to tease us with sports car concepts that never seem to come to fruition. Back in 2003, VW unveiled the Concept R in Frankfurt to critical acclaim and two years later, the wraps came off the EcoRacer, proving that the automaker was still kicking around the idea of a lightweight, affordable roadster for the masses.
In the interim, VW had two similar concepts that never left the studio, but when the Los Angeles Auto Show rolls along later this year, a new mid-engine coupe will be revealed, and this one actually has a shot at production.
According to Autocar, this newest concept aims to be a budget alternative to the Lotus Elise, balancing performance and fuel economy in a low-cost package. Sources suggest that the coupe will feature either a 168 hp, 1.4-liter TSI gasoline engine or a 125 hp, 1.6-liter TDI mounted amidships and sending power to the rear wheels via a seven speed DSG gearbox. If and when the production version debuts in 2011, the coupe's curb weight is pegged at just over 2,200 pounds, allowing it to run to 60 in under seven seconds while still returning over 55 mpg.
If the project is given the green light, the same architecture that underpins the VW variant could form he basis for the oft-rumored and continually denied Audi R4. And with Porsche's stake in V-Dub, that means a 914 successor is just a badge and prayer away.

[ Via: Autocar ]
[ Tag: 914, audi, audi r4, AudiR4, breaking, concept r, ConceptR, ecoracer, la, la auto show, LaAutoShow, los angeles auto show, LosAngelesAutoShow, porsche, porsche 914, Porsche914, r4, volkswagen, volkswagen mid engine la, VolkswagenMidEngineLa ]

Volkswagen's plan for expansion includes four all-new architectures

Volkswagen's plan for the next ten years includes streamlining production, cutting development costs and creating four new platforms so it can boost sales to 10 million units a year and give Toyota a run for its money. Architecture development is key to that strategy.

The first – dubbed MQB – will underpin the majority of small cars and some of the "upper-medium" vehicles that the VW/Audi group produces, including everything from the V-Dub Fox to the Passat, the Audi TT and A3, and a handful of Seats and Skodas. The MQB platform will account for over six million vehicles a year when production hits full bore by 2018, and should reduce development times by a year and reduce costs anywhere between 25- and 40-percent.

Those same time and financial savings are also expected when VW begins production of its MHB platform that will underpin the rear-engine minicars based on the up! concepts we've seen at the last three auto shows. Another modular architecture is being developed for mid-engine sports cars for Audi, Lamborghini and possibly a lower-end Bugatti (oxymoron?), while the last platform – MLB – is already being used on the new A4 and A5.

The breakdown of each platform into its own "just right" size, from small to large, mini to luxury, will also allow the VW group to expand its lineup at a faster pace for niche vehicles and to accommodate the demand in emerging markets.



[ Via: SEAT Autoblog ]
[ Tag: audi, bentley, mhb, mlb, mqb, seat, skoda, volkswagen ]

VW CEO threatens to resign if Porsche interferes

It looks like Porsche's aggressive advances at Volkswagen are less than welcome by Volkswagen's management. Its CEO, Martin Winterkorn, has warned Porsche to keep its mitts out of operations, saying that he will resign his position if there's interference. Winterkorn isn't alone in his agitation, as Der Spigel reports Audi managers are concerned that Porsche will go a-meddling in Ingolstadt once its stake increases above 50 percent. Though VW, Audi, and Porsche are all cousins of a sort, Audi's product line comes uncomfortably close to Porsches in some cases, which doesn't portend well for the continuation of the status quo. Stay tuned as "Alle Meine Kinder," brought to you by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, continues.

[ Via: Forbes ]
[ Tag: majority stake, MajorityStake, porsche, volkswagen ceo, VolkswagenCeo, winterkorn, winterkorn resign, WinterkornResign ]

VW and Sanyo hook up on lithium-ion battery development

Following the lead of Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota and Nissan, Volkswagen has announced a major deal with Sanyo to produce lithium-ion batteries. The two companies already have ties, as VW uses Sanyo's nickel-metal hydride batteries in its current hybrid vehicles, such as the upcoming Audi Q7 hybrid. Li-ion batteries are the current cream-of-the-crop when it comes to storing electricity and VeeDub has plans to begin offering vehicles with the high-tech copper tops as early as 2009.
Unlike Toyota and Nissan, which have created jointly run manufacturing plants with their battery suppliers, Sanyo will be going it alone with an 80 billion yen, or $769 million, investment in order to expand production of its li-ion batteries by 2015, at which time it plans on producing 15-20,000 units per year. Sanyo also happens to provide nickel-metal hydride batteries for the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Honda Civic Hybrid.
[Sources: Volkswagen, The Detroit News]
Press Release:
Volkswagen Working on High-Performance Energy Storage
Dynamic partnership between the Volkswagen Group and Sanyo

Wolfsburg, 28 May 2008 - Agreement has been reached on a co-operation which sees Volkswagen joining forces with Sanyo, one of the world's leading developers of rechargeable batteries, to work on new and extremely efficient high-performance storage systems based on lithium-ion technology.

"Our focus in future," says Prof Martin Winterkorn, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, "will be directed more strongly at making electrically powered automobiles alongside ones driven by more efficient combustion engines. Drivetrain electrification is the way forward if we wish to secure mobility in tomorrow's world. This will involve energy recovery. The whole idea will be to no avail, however, as long as we do not have powerful energy storage systems at our disposal and as long as vehicle operations are not in tune with customer demands. This cooperation is an important step for us," Winterkorn adds.Emissions-free travel in an all-electric operating modus is already possible today, though only at limited speeds and over short distances. That makes it all the more important to develop new accumulators with the capacity, size, weight and cost attributes which will enable them to be used more efficiently in tomorrow's automobiles. Lithium-ion technology, already very successfully used in communications electronics and portable computers, has the potential to satisfy even the particularly exacting demands placed on electro-traction systems in motor vehicles. Back in March, at the Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen showcased its Golf TDI Hybrid design study, which demonstrated just how much potential for energy reduction there is when you combine high-tech-diesel, electric-drive and 7-speed-DSG technology. Conceived as a powerful full-hybrid vehicle, the Golf TDI Hybrid can be operated using combustion-engine power only or using a combination of combustion and electric drive or using E-drive – i.e. the powerful and energy-efficient combination of TDI technology and an electric motor. The A1 project quattro presented by Audi at the most recent Tokyo Motor Show features a powertrain already designed to cover a distance of 100 km using this innovative storage method. The Group hopes to be able to employ lithium-ion technology in its first vehicles by 2010.

[ Via: Autoblog (Volkswagen) ]
[ Tag: audi, audi hybrid, audi-hybrid, AudiHybrid, volkswagen, volkswagen hybrid, volkswagen-hybrid, VolkswagenHybrid, vw, vw hybrid, vw-hybrid, VwHybrid ]

VW Group's next small-car platform to get AWD across the board

Buyers of the next generation of Volkswagen-developed small cars will have one more option box to tick when placing their order: all-wheel-drive. The new platform, dubbed PQ25, will find its way underneath a handful of new models, spanning the range from the low-end (SEAT), mid-grade (VW) and luxury (Audi). All-wheel-drive won't be an option for the new SEAT Ibiza, but consumers of the next VW Polo (specifically the CrossPolo) might be able to outfit their tiny runabout with AWD, while the Audi A1, due out in late 2009, will continue the automaker's love affair with quattro.

[ Via: Automotive News ]
[ Tag: a1,all wheel drive,all-wheel-drive,AllWheelDrive,audi,audi a1,AudiA1,awd,awd crosspolo,AwdCrosspolo,cross polo,CrossPolo,quattro,seat,volkswagen,volkswagen crosspolo,VolkswagenCrosspolo,vw crosspolo,vw polo,VwCrosspolo,VwPolo ]