VW Exec Spills the Beans! 19 New Models to Come!

In a media-jaded town like Los Angeles, it's hard to get excited about another celebrity, but Wolfgang Bernhard has a way of attracting the spotlight wherever he goes. With his movie-star looks, Bernhard caught plenty of attention at the January 2006 L.A. Auto Show, driving onto the show floor behind the wheel of the offbeat three-wheeler, the GX3. Yet even though his entrance into the November L.A. show was more subdued, he still managed to set tongues wagging among the gathered media and competing industry executives.

As recently as a week ago, it seemed unlikely that Bernhard would even make it to this year's event. He was caught up in the political turmoil shaking up VW headquarters in Germany . With Bernhard's boss, Bernd Pischetsrieder, on his way out, most observers expected the younger executive to follow.

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99gs400 - 12/6/2006 10:11:26 AM

+2 Boost

instant of spending all this money on 19 new models , why dont VW spend the money on research and make 1 reliable car at a time !!!!

valentino - 12/6/2006 10:16:41 AM

-3 Boost

Because they think they're Toyota :-p

chewy - 12/6/2006 10:37:45 AM

+2 Boost

Very godd, VW is prepared into the future with 19 new models.

S4cabriofoxone - 12/6/2006 5:54:42 PM

+4 Boost

Whatever.

I like VW, but they should stick to their main models, and IMPROVE THEM GREATLY. Not as much in fun-to-drive-ness or style (they're good-looking and fun), but in reliability and image.

gregsfc - 12/12/2006 4:55:44 PM

+1 Boost

As long as all nineteen models come available with TDI versions to help Americans start learning what their missing by not embracing clean-diesel power, I'm all for it.

My 2006 New Jetta is not just any Jetta. It is a TDI that gets 45% better fuel economy than the standard, gas version, and can run on any blend of biodiesel to further reduce petroleum consumption. Some say that its not clean burning, but it does emit 20% less CO2 than a comparable, gas car; 35% less burning B20. It also emits fewer levels of THCs and CO. Using B20 reduces these substances even more. It falls only to the average gasser with respect to PM and NOx, but these issues are about to go away as well.

New common-rail designs with diesel particulate filters; advanced, De-Nox devices, and a requirement for ULSD fuel and low-ash oils will deliver diesels with all the emission / economy advantages as before, and will bring diesels on par with respect to PM and NOx. Additionally, new TDIs will match gas engine technologies with respect to refinement and horsepower with one-and-a-half times the torque. All of this in an alternative-fuel ready vehicle that will not lose fuel economy when you pump in the alternative blend. Try that with one of those FFVs, and you'll be back at the pump @ 250 miles. Mine goes over 600 miles on a fill-up of B20, and I pay the same price per gallon as one would for the cheapest diesel fuel.