The European-market Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion has been selected as a finalist for the 2007 World Green Car title. A jury comprised of more than 40 international automotive journalists representing the world’s most significant automotive outlets chose this year’s finalists. The World Green Car of the Year will be declared April 5 at the New York International Auto Show.

Damon Lavric over at Autoblog posted a 'translation' post on the up and coming Subaru Boxer Turbo Diesel. It sures sounds like a great combination ... diesel and CVT Subaru.

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Jetta SportWagen, a sporty and dynamic wagon version of Volkswagen's top-selling model, made its U.S. debut today at the New York Auto Show. The Jetta SportWagen mixes practicality with European style and balances both elegance and sportiness. Its exceptional ride and handling and segment-leading safety features, along with its design are perfect for those with an active lifestyle.

Conventional gas engines will remain dominant in the U.S. market, but hybrids and diesels are steadily gaining market share, especially as gas prices and concerns about global warming rise and technology advances, concludes a report by J.D. Power and Associates in "The Steady-But Slow-Rise of Hybrids and Diesels in the U.S. Auto Market," published March 22, 2007.

... content removed ... (see Morningstar - PR Newswire for full article)

"Volkswagen must be different. VW needs its own face." (think Audi)

"We lost our way" — that's the assessment of Volkswagen's new design chief, Walter de' Silva, who was transferred from his role at Audi and Lamborghini by CEO Martin Winterkorn to try to reinvent VW design.

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Hmm ... with no 2007 VW TDIs I'm not surprised.

Volkswagen of America, Inc. today announced March 2007 sales of 17,355 units. This represents a decrease of 16.3% from March 2006 sales of 20,730 vehicles.

On a 2007 year-to-date basis, Volkswagen has sold 50,332 units. This reflects a decrease of 5.6% from January through March 2006 sales of 53,296 vehicles.

Dindo Capello/Allan McNish (Italy/Scotland) and Emanuele Pirro/Marco Werner (Italy/Germany) claimed an unexpected 1-2 victory for Audi in a turbulent and exciting race in St. Petersburg. This proved that the Le Mans sports car is capable of also winning on a "city” street course.

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Porsche plans to increase its stake in Volkswagen to 31 percent — a move that will force the sports car maker to make a formal bid to acquire all of VW. German law requires Porsche to make a takeover bid if its stake in VW exceeds 30 percent.

"Porsche is firmly convinced that a closer bond with VW through an increase of the stake to more than 30% of the Volkswagen ordinary shares will produce benefits for both partners without diluting or indeed endangering the identity of Porsche," Porsche said in a statement to investors and the media. "Quite the contrary: Porsche will perform its economic and social role even more strongly."

See article in LeftLaneNews