Volkswagen’s new Audi mega dealership in London will soon be joined by an equally enormous facility across the pond in New York City.
The German auto conglomerate recently purchased a vast expanse of land – reported to be around 256,000 square feet – to be the site for the brand’s new state-of-the-art dealership that will feature a slew of Audi and
Volkswagen cars. The soon-to-be dealership, which is located between 55th and 56th street and is along 11th Avenue, is the latest indication of VW’s intent to cross-over to the US and establish a strong footing in one of the most high-profile cities in America.
VW purchased the land from its current owners, Potamkin GM for an undisclosed amount although it’s being reported that VW has shelled out a whopping $125 million for the purchase and renovation of the area. As one of the most recognized dealers in the New York area, the Potamkin family’s GM dealership will remain in the area where it will be moving just a few blocks south of its current location.
Press release after the jump.
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After three quarters of 2009 have come and gone, it looks like Volkswagen’s mission to become the world’s largest automaker is coming along sooner than anyone thought.
Thanks to a number of benefits from state-backed stimulus packages around the globe, Volkswagen has overtaken Toyota for the title of largest automaker after producing over 4.4 million cars for the first nine months of 2009 as opposed to the Japanese giant’s 4 million cars produced in the same span.
A big part in Volkswagen’s rise to the top involves the company’s infiltration of the Chinese market, which is also now the world’s largest car market. After launching a fleet of tailor-made VWs for the Chinese market, the company sold over 128,000 cars in the month of July alone – a sign that the Chinese seem to be warming up to buying imported cars like Volkswagen. In addition to their strong showing in China, VW also benefited from a number of cash-for-clunkers schemes in countries like Germany and in the UK.
As far as Toyota is concerned, the Japanese brand’s reign at the top didn’t last as long as it hoped after upstaging General Motors for the top spot just last year. It didn’t help matters when Toyota decided to ease up on the production of their cars as it continues to struggle in regaining its form after the global financial crisis.
Toyota’s decision to ‘decelerate’ production was the opening Volkswagen needed to seize the title of ‘world’s largest automaker’. Whether it retains that title longer than Toyota did is still up in the air, but if there’s one thing Volkswagen is confident of, it’s the fact that it has a lot of momentum on its side compared to its Japanese counterparts.
Legal battles involving trademark claims are nothing new.
This one, however, is a little surprising considering that the two protagonists come from completely different industries.
In the blue corner is German carmaker Porsche. On the red corner, it’s footwear designer Crocs.
Their squabble: the rights to use the name ‘Cayman’ in their products.
Porsche is claiming that the name ‘Cayman’ is trademarked for its exclusive sports car and that Crocs, which sells a plastic cog bearing the same name, should refrain from using ‘Cayman’ again. Predictably, Crocs is staying on course and in a statement that was filed in their quarterly reports, the footwear brand has stated that they will “vigorously defend themselves against these claims”.
We haven’t gotten further comments from the two squabbling brands although if you ask us, we don’t think that these two are risking anything by just letting things go. Apart from catering to distinctively different markets, it must be pointed out that a Porsche Cayman costs around $50,000 while a pair of Crocs Cayman sells for just a shade under $30.
Big difference, don’t you think?
For an exotic Italian automaker like Ferrari – yes, those people that have produced some of the fastest and most expensive cars in the world – you would’ve thought that they’d have turbocharged engines by now.
But contrary to what a lot of people think, the Italian stallions have yet to take that route, and news that they are finally considering using turbo-charging in their future engines might be a little surprising to some people.
But before Ferrari fully commits to turbocharging, the carmakers still have to work around some kinks with the technology, particularly with lagging that usually comes with these types of engines.
According to Jean-Jacques His, Ferrari doesn’t compromise with their engines and that any delays of any kind before the power arrives is something that in the world of the Prancing Horse, is completely taboo. “Turbocharging will come eventually, but we need to solve the issue of turbo lag,” the Frenchman said to Autocar.
Continued after the jump.
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A few days after Renault announced that two of its new concept cars, the Zoe ZE and the Twizy ZE Concept would be scheduled for launch in a few years, the French-based automaker has also announced that it would once dust-off the Gordini brand and add it to the Renault Sport range.
The announcement of the expected debut of the Twingo Gordini RS will be held at the L’Atelier Renault on the Champs Elysées on November 25.
The Gordini brand rose in popularity in the 60’s where over 200,000 units were sold at that time. The brand’s popularity crossed mainstream thresholds after the car appeared in a number of French films during the decade.
After riding off into the sunset shortly thereafter, Gordini is motoring back to give a new generation of car buyers the chance to sit behind the wheel of one of Renault’s most popular cars. To retain the classic look of the compact car, Renault has made it clear that it would uphold the Gordini tradition. What this means is that the cars styling – including the off-center double stripes that was a trademark of Gordini back then – will likely stay the course. Renault has still to shed light as to what drivetrain the new Gordini models will have and the announcement will more than likely happen on the 25th of November, the day the Twingo Gordini RS is unveiled in France.
Press release after the jump.
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One of Australia’s few supercar exports is now headed to the UK.
Coming in two different engine packages, the Australian rally car Skelta is
looking to the UK by storm. Named after the famous Beatles song “Helter Skelter”, the Skelta will make its formal debut in the UK at the Autosport International show in Birmingham, England in January of next year.
Among the car’s main selling points is the fact that prospective customers can choose what type of engine they want on their ride. They can choose from a supercharged, 2.0-liter Honda four-cylinder engine that can churn as much as 340 horsepower or opt for the more powerful option: a Hartley 3.0-liter V8-engine that pumps out as much as 480 horsepower.
While the engines are up for choice, the rest of the car comes with the same stylistic and technical packages, including a carbon fiber body that keeps the weight of the car to just around 750 kilos, making the car quick on its feet in and around the block. In addition to that, the Skelta also comes with a rear wing, a diffuser, and front air intakes that allows the car to pack 200 kilos of downforce to stabilize it when speeds reach 90 mph.
In addition to the engine choice, buyers can also choose the type of two-seat versions they’d want on the Skelta. The choice includes a gull-wing, removable targa top, called "G-Force" or a wide-bodied, open-topped two-seater, called the "Spyder."
No word yet as to how much the car’s are being sold so we’ll all have to wait for its official unveiling at next year’s Autosport International Show to find out how much the Skelta is going to cost.
Press release after the jump.
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After struggling for the past year with sputtering sales, Chrysler has bounced back from its mediocre run and is looking to reinvent itself to once again become a major driving force in the US auto industry.
And according to patent filings done by the company at the US Patent and Trademark Office, it looks like one of the first steps Chrysler is taking towards the road to redemption is changing their company’s logo.
Over the years, the company hasn’t been shy in changing their logo. Before today, the last change occurred just last year after the company decided to tweak their previous logo to ‘The New Chrysler’. Less than a year after that logo was made, the company has decided to completely change it to a winged logo that has a blue emblem in the middle with the word ‘Chrysler’ spread across it.
Now, Chrysler has yet to confirm the change in the company’s logo, but they’ve also announced that there will be a press briefing tomorrow so you can expect that at some point during the whole event, the topic of the impending logo change will crop up.
In the meantime, check out the history of the Chrysler logo from its inception in the 1950’s to the latest one that will – supposedly – be announced tomorrow.
Earlier reports that said the McLaren MP4-12C’s US launch would be delayed has been refuted by McLaren.
According to the said reports, the UK-based supercar maker was having a difficult time establishing a dealership network in the US out of concerns that the six-digit MP4-12C would not go over well across the Atlantic because American customers are holding off on splurging for a car with such an exorbitant price tag.
But according to McLaren, there has been significant progress made from the
company’s search for a dealership network and that the car’s pending release in the US is still on schedule.
“All is on-track,” a McLaren spokesman said. “Retailers are very keen and the customer list is strong.”
McLaren also dismissed reports that the company pulled out of the LA Auto Show out of fears that it would’ve been a fruitless endeavour. “We never even signed up to the show in the first place,’ said the spokesperson.
The US launch of the new McLaren MP4-12C may have hit a pretty serious stumble block after Inside Line reported that concerns over the car’s viability in the US has turned off a number of US dealership networks into giving the MP4-12C the green light in the US.
Taking the stance of these dealers and given the penny-pinching a lot of Americans are doing these days when it comes to their next auto purchase, the feasibility of selling a supercar – and a six-figure McLaren at that – in the US just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
McLaren was supposed to bring the MP4-12C to Los Angeles for the L.A. Auto Show in December, but with the recent turn of events putting a cloud on the car’s future in the US, the UK-based company has decided to cancel its appearance in the event, giving further credence to the growing uncertainty of the MP4-12C’s future across the Atlantic.
All things considered, the car is still scheduled to make its arrival in the US sometime in the middle of 2010, although expectations should be tempered. For now, at least.
The so-called ‘Disneyland’ for piston heads is nearing completion and we have the latest photos of what is promising to become a world attraction unlike any other.
We are, of course, talking about the ginormous Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi. A few months ago, we talked about the theme that’s poised to become the world’s biggest indoor park of its kind. Set to open sometime in 2010, Ferrari World already comes with shops, hotels, and a number of rides and attractions – including the world’s fastest rollercoaster, which is said simulate the experience of being in an actual Ferrari F1 car.
The enormous park with the oddly-shaped dome is located on Yas Island, between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Recent photos that were leaked have shown the progress that has been made since our last report. The aforementioned weird roof has finally been completed and the Ferrari insignia that comes with it is said to be the largest in the world, measuring 217 feet in diameter.
Check out the latest photos of the soon-to-be-completed Ferrari World theme park. Can’t wait for it to be done? Neither can us.
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