Infinite Unknown

Hmmh.

Audi, BMW and VW ranked in the bottom 10 of a study into engine reliability

- German cars ‘among worst for engine failures’ (Auto Express, Jan 18, 2013):

German-made cars are not as reliable as many believe, according to new research. Warranty Direct has studied its claims data to compile a list of the manufacturers with the most reliable engines – and Audi, BMW and Volkswagen all finished in the bottom 10 out of a total 36 makers.

In fact, the only firm whose cars had a worse engine failure rate than Audi was MG Rover. MINI wasn’t much better, finishing third from bottom, while its parent company BMW came seventh from bottom. And, despite its reputation for rock-solid reliability, Volkswagen came ninth from bottom.

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Tags: Audi, BMW, Cars, Germany, Global News, Honda, Japan, Mercedes, Rover, Saab, Technology, Toyota, Volvo, VW

The Car Coach Lauren Fix on why ‘E15’ gas could damage drivers’ vehicles older than 2012 models.

Tags: BMW, Cars, Chrysler, EPA, Global News, Government, Honda, Kia, Mercedes, Nissan, Politics, Technology, Toyota, VW

- Chart Of The Day: The Unprecedented Implosion Of European Car Sales (ZeroHedge, Dec 4, 2012):

The graphic below, which presents an unvarnished picture of Europe’s true economic state, needs no explanation:

Source: FT

In the context of the above, no explanation is also needed that quietly, and without much fanfare, French car-maker, Peugeot, and Europe’s second largest after VW, was recently GMed, and received a government bailout.

Carmaker Peugeot gets $9.1B government bailout

The French government has agreed to underwrite up to €7 billion ($9.1 billion) of bonds issued by Banque PSA Finance SA, the financing unit of carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen SA, allowing the French automaker to offer low-cost credit to its dealerships and clients amid a slump in sales.

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Tags: Bailout, BMW, Cars, Collapse, Economy, EU, Europe, Fiat, Ford, France, Global News, GM, Government, Peugeot, Politics, Renault, VW

- Here’s a Corporate Tax Loophole a Porsche Could Drive Through (Daily Finance, July 9, 2012):

For years, much of the tax-paying American public has been appalled by the loopholes that U.S. corporations and rich individuals use to reduce their tax liability to the IRS.

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Tags: Corporations, Economy, Germany, Global News, Porsche, Taxes, Taxpayers, VW

Flashback:

- Who Killed The Electric Car? (Documentary)

- U.S. Government blocks sales of fuel-efficient cars (Natural News, June 15, 2012):

The development of affordable “green” cars and trucks – electric vehicles or hybrids designed to dramatically curb the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels – is supposed to be a primary goal for the Obama administration and a number of government and industry leaders. But what about diesel-burning vehicles that already get more than 70 miles a gallon?

Yes, you read that right. There are already vehicles on the road – nice vehicles, not bread boxes with weed-eater motors on wheels – that get better than 70 miles to a gallon of diesel fuel. Only, you can’t buy one here in the United States. More on that later.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Cars, Global News, Government, Obama administration, Politics, Technology, U.S., VW

Gavin Conway, writer for the Sunday Times, buckled into a Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion and embarked on a journey. This trip was not your typical Sunday jaunt, nor was it what we’d call a grocery run. Let’s just say that Conway had Guinness World Record visions dancing in his head. Followed by independent representatives who verified the run, Conway and the Passat hit the French roads and never looked back.

Powered by a 1.6-liter common rail TDI engine with stop-start technology and equipped with low-rolling resistance tires, longer gearing and aerodynamics modifications, the Passat BlueMotion is one heck of an example of efficient motoring and Conway’s drive put the vehicle’s fuel-sipping abilities to the test. Conway hit the French autoroutes to determine just how far the efficient Passat could travel on a single tank, which holds 20.4 gallons of diesel. During his three-day record-setting run, Conway averaged 45 miles per hour and discovered that the BlueMotion’s efficiency was simply amazing. After completing the journey, the Volkswagen Passat clocked 1,526.63 miles, setting a Guinness World Record for the longest distance traveled by a production passenger car on a single tank of fuel; the 74.8 miles per gallon (U.S.) it got ain’t too shabby either. Hit the jump for more on the Passat BlueMotion’s record-setting run.

[Source: Volkswagen | Image: Media Inventions Ltd.]

PRESS RELEASE

1,527 MILES ON ONE TANK: PASSAT BLUEMOTION SETS NEW WORLD RECORD

A Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest distance travelled by a standard production passenger car on a single tank of fuel.

The attempt, carried out by a team from The Sunday Times, involved driving from Maidstone in Kent to the South of France and back. The Passat BlueMotion finally ran out of fuel close to Calais after completing a distance of 1,526.63 miles.

The route mainly followed French autoroutes, but included some town driving, resulting in an average speed of just over 45 mph.

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Tags: Cars, Passat BlueMotion, VW

See also:

- Volkswagen introduces world’s most economical car

- Water Powered Car: 1 Liter of Water for 80 km

A Volkswagen Beetle powered by gas from sewage has taken to the road for the first time in Britain.

The converted Beetle car that runs on methane gas Photo: SWNS

The Bio-Bug was launched on Thursday by Wessex Water, which is generating methane from human waste at a sewage treatment works near Bristol.

The company claims the prototype is able to cover 10,000 miles annually on the waste from 70 households.

If the trial proves successful, Volkswagen will consider converting some of its fleet of vehicles to run on biogas.

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Tags: Biogas, Cars, Technology, VW

VW shares fell 13,98% today.

3 Months: (Durchschnitt = Average)

Hedge funds build up short bets on VW again

A new Volkswagen UP! car is seen during the ceremonial announcement of the New Small Family vehicles production at the Volkswagen car manufacture plant in Bratislava June 2,2009. (REUTERS)

LONDON (Reuters) – Hedge funds have increased their bets on a fall in voting shares in Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen, according to data on Tuesday, despite the heavy losses suffered by such funds last year.

Hedge funds shorting VW (VOWG.DE) were caught out in October when VW shares more than quadrupled after Porsche announced it had effective control of 74.1 percent of VW.

This left less than 6 percent tradeable in the market and saw funds scrambling to cover their positions.

Nevertheless, figures from Dataexplorers on Tuesday show that stock out on loan — a good indication of short interest — for VW’s ordinary shares has doubled in the past month to 2 percent of total issuance.

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Tags: Cars, Economy, Hedge Funds, Stock Market, VW

Porsche automobiles sit lined up in the Porsche Forum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany on Nov. 25, 2008. Photographer: Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg News

May 26 (Bloomberg) — Porsche SE, struggling to combine with Volkswagen AG, is in danger of losing some of the 17.3 billion euros ($24.3 billion) in profits recorded from holding VW options because it may not have the money to exercise them.

Porsche bought options and Volkswagen stock for more than three years and controls more than 70 percent of Europe’s biggest automaker. Now, Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche may be unable to raise the money needed to cash in the options, according to research by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. and FAIResearch GmbH & Co.

The 78-year-old maker of the 911 sports car piled up more than 9 billion euros in debt and hasn’t been able to raise the financing even after the options contracts surged in value along with the sevenfold gain in VW shares since 2005, according to the analysts. Porsche is attempting to negotiate a merger with Volkswagen and seek an investor to provide cash after its bid last year fell apart when VW’s home state of Lower Saxony vetoed the proposal and its car deliveries fell 27 percent in the six months ended Jan. 31.

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Tags: Cars, Economy, Porsche, Stock Market, VW

German car maker Porsche is struggling to raise €1.75bn (£1.54bn) to cover debts and unwind derivative positions stemming from its botched attempt to take over vastly-bigger Volkswagen.

Porsche’s shares fell 3.1pc in Frankfurt on Monday after it emerged that the company had obtained a €700bn loan from Volkswagen as long ago as March. A Porsche spokesman said the group is negotiating bridging finance with a variety of banks, including the state lender KfW.

It is understood that Porsche is also in talks with the Bank of Tokyo for a €750m loan, and is seeking help from the regional government of Baden-Wurttemberg.

The crisis is yet another headache for the German authorities as they put together a rescue deal this week for Opel, most likely with Fiat. Separately, the hotel and retail group Arcandor said it faced collapse without a €650m state bail-out. Arcandor’s share price fell 20pc. The company owns the Karstadt department stores, Quelle, and Thomas Cook. It employs 50,000 workers.

Porsche acquired a 51pc share of VW earlier this year after a series of derivatives deals that tripled Porsche’s debt to €9bn.

The takeover bid went badly wrong, forcing Porsche chief Ferdinand Piech to press instead for a merger of the two car makers on increasingly less favourable terms.

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Tags: Cars, Economy, Porsche, Stock Market, VW