Off-Road Looks, On-Road Agility
Since its rebirth in 1998, the Volkswagen Beetle has been the subject of a key question for those possessing a Y chromosome: Are you man enough to drive one? Its Hello Kitty styling is a bit emasculating. This is no small thing. While the Beetle was originally created under the auspices of the Nazi party and engineered by Ferdinand Porsche, its popularity in the 1960s came about — improbably enough for a product created by...
VW CEO Apologizes, Asks for Trust
Detroit — Volkswagen AG’s smog-test scandal escalated Tuesday as the company acknowledged putting stealth software in millions of vehicles worldwide. The crisis has already cost VW more than $26 billion in market value. The world’s top-selling carmaker now admits that 11 million of its diesel vehicles contain software that evades emissions controls, far more than the 482,000 cars identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...
Wheels: 2015 Passat Is Safe, Reliable and Fuel Efficient
The Volkswagen Passat sedan, now in its eighth generation of service, is passe. You’ll note that I used the word “service” instead of “life” or “existence” in referring to the car’s age. That is because there is nothing passe about the Passat’s continued reliability, safety, durability and overall performance. That is especially true of the model driven for this week’s column, the 2015 Passat TDI SEL Premium, a diesel-powered,...
