Suzuki Takes Volkswagen to International Court

Suzuki has just released a press statement saying that, because of the Volkswagen Group's unwillingness to sell back 19.9% of its own shares, it has made the decision to take the dispute to an international court for arbitration, marking the latest episode in a long-standing spat between the two automakers.

The Japanese company's official statement follows below:

"Suzuki Motor Corporation ("Suzuki") is today commencing arbitration proceedings in London with the ICC International Court of Arbitration, in order to compel Volkswagen AG to dispose of its Suzuki shares to Suzuki or Suzuki's designated third party.

The arbitration proceedings follow Suzuki's termination of its alliance with Volkswagen AG on 18 November 2011, and Volkswagen AG's lack of response to Suzuki's requests for the disposition of its shares to Suzuki or Suzuki's designated third party."

The two companies have been fighting each other ever since a document in VW’s 2010 annual report described Suzuki as an “associate” was reported in March. The quarrel between the two automakers escalated with the Germans later on accusing the Japanese firm for violating their agreement by buying diesel engines from the Fiat Group.

The Volkswagen Group has not yet issued a statement on the matter. However, when Suzuki threatened to take the Germans to court last week, VW's reply was: “We are extremely disappointed that Suzuki has taken this step to terminate the agreement. There is no legal foundation whatsoever obliging us to surrender our shares. Volkswagen will continue to hold its stake.”

VW Signs WRC 2013

We all know that when the Volkswagen Group puts something in its mind, it will achieve it no matter what: the Bugatti Veyron is a perfect example.

Now that VW has decided to enter the FIA World Rally Championship with the new Polo R WRC, it wants to make sure that it will be competitive from the first race. Consequently, it will enter the championship in 2013, having a full year to test its new car.

Today, VW Motorsport announced that it signed its first factory driver, who is none other than the hottest new name in WRC, Sebastien Ogier. The Frenchman made quite an impression in his maiden season this year with the factory Citroen team, challenging his all-conquering teammate, Sebastian Loeb, and winning five races to finish third in the overall standings.

“Volkswagen is the number one in Europe and will soon be number one in the world”, said Ogier. “I’m sure that they’re going to compete with the goal of clinching the WRC title, and I’m happy to be part of this from the outset.” His co-driver, Julien Ingrassia, added: “We’re looking forward to a team with a fighting spirit and the determination to win. Anything’s possible!”

When two times world rally champion, and let's not forget, record-holder for the most career starts in WRC and 2010 Dakar winner, Carlos Sainz, says “for me, Sebastien is one of the world’s three best drivers”, it is a very high praise indeed.

VW Passat Goes Off-Road

The VW Group, and more specifically Audi, was the one that started the high-riding estate craze with its A6 Allroad in 1999. Based on the regular A6 Avant, the Allroad featured an all-wheel drive quattro system, higher ground clearance, an adjustable-height air suspension, all-terrain tires and flared fenders, gaining a more adventurous appearance.

Now, Volkswagen has released the first-ever crossroad version of its Passat mid-size model, named the Passat Alltrack. It will receive its world premiere at the Tokyo Motor Show on December 3 and will go on sale in early 2012.

A successful recipe is not meddled with so the (European) Passat Estate-based Alltrack has all the goods one expects in the segment: raised suspension height, stainless steel-look front and rear underbody protection panels and plastic covered wheel arches that house 18-inch alloys.

Ground clearance has been increased from 135mm to 165 mm. This has improved the ramp breakaway angle from 9.5 to 12.8 degrees, while the redesigned front and rear bumpers have increased approach and departure angles from 13.5 to 16 degrees and from 11.9 to 13.6 degrees respectively.

The 4Motion all-wheel drive system uses an electrohydraulic Haldex clutch. Under normal use, it sends 90% of the power to the front axle and just 10% to the rear, though when necessary almost 100% can be directed to the rear axle.

The Passat Alltrack also sports an off-road mode, which works at speeds up to 30 km/h (18 mph). When the driver switches it on through dashboard-mounted button, the system activates hill descent assist, which automatically brakes the vehicle when the descent angle is greater than 10 degrees, and also alters the function of the ABS and the electronic differential locks (EDS).

On DSG-equipped cars, it also increases the transmission’s change points to make the gas pedal easier to modulate, and it doesn’t upshift when in manual mode.

The Alltrack will be available with two turbocharged direct injection petrol engines delivering 160HP and 210HP, and two turbodiesels with 140 and 170HP.

The 170HP diesel and the 210HP gasoline engines will feature all-wheel drive and a dual-clutch DSG transmission as standard, while the 140HP diesel will be optionally available with all-wheel drive.

Volkswagen did not say if the Passat Alltrack will be offered in the States.

Volkswagen Transporter Future with New eT! Concept Van

Volkswagen has been in the business of making light commercial vans for over 60 years now, ever since the introduction of the famous T1 / Type 2 (also known as the Kombi and the Microbus) based on the legendary Beetle in 1950.

Now, the German automaker wants to reinvent the commercial van and show the road it will follow with the future generations of the Transporter through an innovative concept model called eT!.

For the creation of the eT! study, Volkswagen Group Research worked closely with the German Post Office (Deutsche Post AG), which is one of the largest customers of lightweight commercial vehicles and the University of Art at Braunschweig.

“We analysed process flows and customer needs in detail, and from these analyses we derived ideas on how the segment of delivery and courier vehicles could be further developed over the long term," said Jürgen Leohold, Director of Volkswagen Group Research.

"In this context, we focused on zero-emissions driving and available space in urban areas, semiautomatic driving functions that offer relevant support and simplify work processes and the integration of new communication technologies," he added.

The eT! concept is a zero-emissions van powered by four electric wheel hub motors, which Volkswagen says help optimize the van's interior space.

One of the many novel features of the study is the 'drive stick' that allows the driver to steer the vehicle from the passenger's side, while the eT! can also be operated semi-automatically in certain situations, such as to follow the delivery person from house to house (“Follow me”), or return to the delivery person on command (“Come to me”) driverless.

The eT! also gets two electrically-operated sliding doors on the passenger side while at the rear, there's a split door with a section of the roof extending out to protect the user of the vehicle from the elements of nature.

"Naturally, the eT! is not a vehicle which – unlike the Golf or up! with an electric motor – could become available very soon," says Rudolf Krebs, Group Manager for Electric Traction at Volkswagen AG.

"But we must make plans today for what the world of lightweight commercial vehicles might look like starting in the second half of this decade, including with regard to electrical drives."

VW Beetle R Concept

Officially, it’s just a concept, but the wording on VW’s press release hints at a production version of the Beetle R that was first shown at the 64th IAA in Frankfurt before it made its North American debut today at the LA Auto Show.Developed by Volkswagen R GmbH - that is, the same people responsible for the Scirocco R and Golf R models, the Beetle R is said to show “the potential for an ever sportier version of the Beetle”.

The company also claims that the 200HP turbocharged 2.0-liter of the Beetle Turbo “could offer even more performance, similar to that of the Golf R and Scirocco R”.

Even though VW won’t say what’s under the hood, the 2.0-liter TFSI can easily pump out an extra 60-70 horses compared to the standard Beetle Turbo, as evidenced by the R GmbH-fettled Golf and Scirocco.

Building on the third-gen Beetle’s more muscular looks, VW’s designers added a completely new, 30 mm wider front bumper, along with beefier wheel arches widened by 15 mm to make room for the 20-inch “Talladega” five-spoke alloys and bigger brakes with blue “R” calipers. And in case you missed it, they also put a Porsche-like rear wing, a diffuser and four tail pipes at the rear end.

Inside there are bucket sport seats trimmed in Nappa-leather, glossy black accents on the dashboard, redesigned instruments and aluminum pedals.

When it was first displayed in September, we were willing to bet that VW was gauging reactions for a production version that is probably already waiting for the green light in Wolfsburg. Could it be that crossing the Atlantic means that the company is testing the waters to decide if it should bring it to the U.S. as well? Only time will tell.