Volkswagen Jetta Wallpapers

Volkswagen Jetta Wallpapers Galleries

Volkswagen posts best March sales in US since 1973; boom in Passat sales

Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VWoA) reported 36,588 units sold in March, a 34.6% increase over prior year sales and best March results since 1973. Diesel TDI models accounted for 23.1% of sales in March, up 44.4% versus the prior year.

March’s strong sales of 36,588 units highlights a robust first quarter for 2012 for Volkswagen and we are poised for continued growth this calendar year. Two years ago, we sold 10,168 Passat sedans for the year, and now we’ve broken the 10,000 barrier for the month. The new Passat has become a true success story, and it’s having a great impact across our company here in the US.

—Jonathan Browning, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

The company announced in March that it will add an additional 800 jobs at its Chattanooga manufacturing facility to meet the demand for the Passat, bringing the total employment increase in 2012 to 1000.

On the heels of taking first place in a six-car comparison test in Car and Driver Magazine, the Passat achieved 10,032 sales in March, marking the first time ever this volume has been achieved. In Car and Driver’s midsize sedan comparison test, the 2012 Passat 2.5 SE beat out the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Chevrolet Malibu, Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima.

Jetta sedan, including the enthusiast GLI model, remains the volume leader for Volkswagen with sales totaling 12,947, while Jetta SportWagen totaled 2,019.

The 2012 Beetle sold 1,969 units. The Beetle TDI Clean Diesel Coupe will go on sale late summer 2012.

The Tiguan continued strong sales with 2,659 units sold, marking the best March ever. The Touareg vehicles saw an increase in sales with 53.9% with 748 units sold.

Source: Green Car Congress

2015 VW Golf Plug-In Hybrid to Debut In Paris

Back in the 1980s, Volkswagen worked on producing both fully-electric and plug-in hybrid versions of its Mk II Rabbit -- also known as the Mk II VW Golf.

It’s been no secret that Volkswagen has been working on resurrecting an all-electric Golf in the form of its 2013 VW Blue E-Motion, but now VW has confirmed that it will be unveiling a plug-in hybrid Golf at the 2012 Paris Motor Show.

Combining a 1.4 liter Twincharger Stratification Injection (TSI) engine with an 80 kilowatt electric motor, the VW Golf Plug-in Hybrid will be built upon the MQB platform which VW unveiled earlier this month.

Designed to accommodate both a large battery pack and an electric motor without compromising in-car space, the new platform will form the basis of plug-in and non-plugin VW Golf VII models and associated cars like the Audi A3.

According to Autoexpress, the plug-in hybrid should manage a range of up to 30 miles in all-electric mode, while mixed-mode driving should yield a gas mileage of around 141 miles per imperial gallon (117 MPG U.S.).

Volkswagen's MQB Platform

Part of the key to its impressive fuel economy lies in the TSI engine, which can run on just one or two cylinders when power demands are low, allowing the VW Golf Plug-in Hybrid to run in a low-power mode if most of the power needs are met by its electric motor.

VW also promises the new plug-in hybrid -- which will also have a non plug-in sibling -- will come laden with technology.

At the heart of this will be an eight-inch touch screen display which VW have likened to Apple’s iPad. From VW’s description, it seems a little like the touchscreen display we’ve previously seen in VW concept vehicles like the all-electric Bulli concept it displayed last year at the Geneva Auto Show.

As for cost?

According to VW, it expects the 2015 Golf VII Plug-in Hybrid to cost around the same as the new VW Golf GTi.

Source: Green Car Reports

The Two Roads of Volkswagen – Diesel and Hybrid

On a bright shiny white stage were Volkswagen’s greenest presentations at the Chicago Auto Show – a Beetle TDI (diesel), and the Jetta Hybrid, in pure flat white. Both of them looked pretty good up there on their clean-looking display, and I almost didn’t miss that there was nothing completely electric.

The Hybrid Jetta Has Good Mileage, Looks Great

Volkswagen wants you to know that the Jetta can be driven on battery power alone up to 44mph, that it goes 0-60 in under 9 seconds (perfectly average, by the way), and that it gets 45mpg combined. It only goes about a mile, mile and a quarter, under battery power alone, but that does still get you to the nearest station (hopefully) if you run the tank bone-dry. No official word on emissions, though, carbon dioxide or otherwise.

The problem with the Jetta is the same problem that nearly every other automaker has with integrating an electric motor and its batteries – the trunk space suffers. Oh, how it suffers. There’s a giant shelf eating up much of the trunk space, and a tiny pass-through for when you’ve got skis or something. The seats do fold down, but the batteries take up so much space that whatever you’re transporting had better be fairly flat or it’s not going in there.

The Diesel Bug Is Manly!

We’ve talked about the problems with diesel here on Gas2, but the up side is that the Beetle TDI isn’t going to be burning a whole lot of it. VW wants you to know that it gets 29mpg city and 39mpg highway (much better than either the Beetle 2.5 or Beetle Turbo, but not the best diesel mileage out there), and that it’s “more masculine” than previous Bugs. No, really, that’s what the press release they handed us said. The press release was on a thumb drive shaped like a key, by the way, making it easily the most awesome hand-out at the show.

In addition to not burning too much diesel, VW is taking steps to reduce emissions; this diesel Beetle does have a particulate filter and three catalytic converters (for oxidation, nitrogen oxides, and hydrogen sulfide). The engine then makes only 140HP for a 3,000 lb. car, but it should be pretty drivable.

VW also pointed out that even though the roof is flatter, there’s still space in the rear seat. I did not actually climb into the rear seat, but since it’s not a hybrid, there’s plenty of storage space once the seats fold down. Points for the diesel hatchback.

Final impressions on the VW green display – not bad, not bad, definitely worth a test drive (we weren’t allowed to drive these display cars either, so you’ll have no preconceptions there).

Source: Gas2.0

2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid

The world doesn't need another automaker claiming to have cracked the code for a fun-to-drive hybrid. The concept hasn't worked particularly well in any application. Just ask Lexus. And Honda. Twice.

Granted, we don't know how Volkswagen plans to pitch the 2013 Jetta Hybrid when it goes on sale this fall. We didn't get a two-hour long marketing presentation and associated PowerPoint. Instead, we snagged the keys while an executive-level engineer droned on about next-gen modular EGR systems and EU4-compliant oxidation catalytic converters.

We needed an escape and the Jetta Hybrid was it.

So maybe it was the sub-zero temps outside the VW pavilion in Wolfsburg, Germany or the chance to do something – anything – to combat the effects of three hours of sleep in 36 hours. But what we found during our all-too-brief drive of the Jetta Hybrid wasn't a cynical engineering-meets-marketing stop-gap, but instead the first compelling alternative to the Toyota Prius.

The Jetta Hybrid made its debut at last month's Detroit Auto Show and – considering everything else clogging the halls at Cobo – it didn't get much interest. That's because it's not that interesting.

The exterior is barely distinguishable from a standard Jetta, although the new front air dam, rear diffuser and spoiler are supposedly good for a 10-percent decrease in the sedan's coefficient of drag. Further boosting efficiency is a set of 15-inch wheels with low-rolling resistance rubber and a grille-mounted VW logo with a blue background – sure to be good for a few fractions of an MPG.



The underlying tech is just as mild-mannered, with a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine putting out 150 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque between 1,400 and 3,500 rpm. Sandwiched between that small-displacement mill and a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox is an electric motor outputting an additional 27 hp (20kW). Unlike VW's first hybrid (the Touareg) that relied on a nickel metal hydride battery pack, the Jetta uses more modern and efficient lithium-ion cells – 60 in total, mounted behind the rear seat backs and weighing less than 80 pounds.

If that doesn't sound like much, that's because it isn't. The batteries only provide 1.1 kWh of juice. Thankfully, that means tonnage has been kept in check, with the whole package adding 221 pounds to the Jetta's curb weight for a total of around 3,300 pounds.

All this adds up to a claimed 45 MPG combined – five MPGs fewer than the Prius, but it's a fair trade.



Out on the drive loop that combined a short burst of autobahn with some residential and industrial driving, the combination of the turbo'd 1.4 and electric motor proved more than adequate to scoot around town and up to freeway speeds. Nail the throttle past the kick-down point and the "power" gauge taking the place of the tachometer swings from zero, passes 10 and moves into the "Boost" section. Thrust is far from overwhelming, but it feels quicker than the claimed nine-second 0-60 mph run. We'd guess something in the low eights or high sevens.

But naturally, the Jetta is more about fuel efficiency and all-electric motoring than outright power. And compared to the Prius, it's even easier to keep things humming without the aid of internal combustion.

While the Prius requires micro-millimeter precise control of the throttle to keep it from clicking over the engine, the Jetta Hybrid prototype would only demand the four-pot's assistance when we flexed our right foot just slightly more than maintenance throttle. Moreover, VW claims you can run the Hybrid up to 44 mph in EV mode and for up to 1.2 miles before the battery is tapped of juice.



Even more impressive is VW's ability to get a much more progressive and compliant braking experience from its regenerative system. Unlike the Prius, which has always been plagued by overly-grabby brakes, the Jetta Hybrid manages to allow more modulation. The only ding is an odd regen sensation when lifting off the brakes – it feels like a strong headwind slowing things down.

Couple the better brakes and highly controllable throttle with the seven-speed DSG – an obvious improvement over CVTs fitted to most hybrids – and VW has a gotten remarkably close to creating a valid contender to the Prius, while not leaving the driving experience out of the equation.

With only a short drive under our belt, that's not a definitive call by any means, but it's an impressive proof of concept that, with the proper pricing (figure around $25k), delivers everything we want in a hybrid, plus something that's been missing: driver engagement.



Source: Autoblog Green