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Volkswagen, Audi recall 32,000 cars in Australia

Agence France-PresseJune 12, 2013 04:32

German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) on Wednesday recalled nearly 26,000 vehicles in Australia and Audi followed suit with 6,000 cars due to a gearbox problem that could cause a loss of power while driving. The recalls follow growing safety worries sparked by the death in Australia of a woman while in a 2008 Golf. The 32-year-old's car slowed and was hit from behind by a truck on a Melbourne motorway in 2011, a coroner's inquest heard last month. The news sparked complaints from other VW owners whose cars had also cut out or stopped on busy roads.

Hitler's shadow looms over anniversary of VW hometown

Agence France-PresseMay 24, 2013 07:17

Europe's number one carmaker Volkswagen is not keen on celebrating the 75th birthday of its German home town of Wolfsburg on Sunday because of the long shadow cast by Adolf Hitler there. "It was all just a bit of Nazi propaganda," a spokesman for the carmaker said, referring to the festivities 75 years ago when the Nazi leader laid the foundation stone for a factory that would build the "Kraft-durch-Freude" (KdF) (Strength through Joy) automobile that went on to conquer the world as "the People's Car".

Volkswagen recalls more than 384,000 cars in China

Agence France-PresseMarch 20, 2013 04:01

Volkswagen said Wednesday it would recall 384,181 vehicles in China over gearbox defects, marking the German auto giant's biggest ever recall in the world's largest auto market. The recall came after Chinese state television alleged in an annual corporate malpractice programme that Volkswagen had used substandard gearboxes in some models, causing acceleration problems and accidents. In a company statement, Volkswagen said an electronic malfunction could cause its cars to lose power while being driven.

Volkswagen to recall almost 385,000 China vehicles

Agence France-PresseMarch 20, 2013 01:45

German auto giant Volkswagen will recall 384,181 vehicles in China over gearbox defects, it said Wednesday after state television criticised it over the issue. In a company statement Volkswagen said an electronic malfunction could cause cars to lose power while being driven. "In isolated cases, an electronic malfunction in the control unit or a lack of oil pressure inside the gearbox mechatronics may result in a power interruption," the statement said. Steering and braking would not be impacted, it added.

China agency urges Volkswagen to recall vehicles

Agence France-PresseMarch 16, 2013 08:45

China's consumer quality agency on Saturday urged German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) to recall vehicles with a gearbox defect that it said could lead to engine power failures. It was not immediately clear how many vehicles or what models would be affected by the problems, which are related to the direct shift gearbox transmission, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said in a statement on its website.

Volkswagen ramps up China production to offset weak Europe

Thomson ReutersMarch 14, 2013 12:30

By Andreas Cremer WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE>, Europe's biggest carmaker, plans to almost double production capacity in China over the next five years to grab a bigger slice of fast-growing emerging markets and offset declining demand at home. The German company said on Thursday it aimed to have the capacity to make over 4 million vehicles in China, already its largest market, by 2018.

Volkswagen eyes "strong" second quarter after weaker Q1 - CFO

Thomson ReutersMarch 14, 2013 08:30

BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> expects a "strong" second quarter and is bracing for the first three-month period to be weaker compared with 2012 results, Finance Chief Hans-Dieter Poetsch said at the company's annual press conference on Tuesday. New models and growing savings from implementation of a major engineering overhaul called MQB will help VW's second-quarter performance, the CFO said.

Volkswagen says net profit up 40% in 2012

Agence France-PresseFebruary 22, 2013 11:16

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, said Friday that its net profit zoomed ahead by more the 40 percent last year on higher vehicle sales, but its chief executive nevertheless saw his salary cut. VW said in a statement its net profit soared by 40.9 percent to a record 21.7 billion euros ($28.6 billion) in 2012 as revenues rose by 20.9 percent to 192.7 billion euros and deliveries to customers were up 12.2 percent at 9.276 million vehicles. Underlying or operating profit rose by 2.1 percent to 11.51 billion euros.

RPT-INSIGHT-Has Volkswagen discovered the Holy Grail of carmakers?

Thomson ReutersFebruary 11, 2013 08:15

INSIGHT-Has Volkswagen discovered the Holy Grail of carmakers?

Thomson ReutersFebruary 11, 2013 03:00

By Laurence Frost and Andreas Cremer and Paul Lienert BERLIN/DETROIT, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Ulrich Hackenberg isn't yet a household name but if Volkswagen's $70 billion bet on his big idea pays off, he may join the likes of Henry Ford, Alfred Sloan and Taiichi Ohno in the canon of auto industry pioneers. Since the heyday of Henry Ford and his Model T, the world's automakers have considered the "global car" to be their Holy Grail - the same basic design that can be built, in subtle variations, and sold in different markets.