Volkswagen Passat Estate

If you are looking for a top towcar for your caravan or trailer, Volkswagen has just scooped its third 2011 Top Towcar Award bringing the overall number of towcar awards this year to three.

The readers of Caravan Times, the UK’s largest online caravan magazine, have just chosen the Volkswagen Passat from a list of five top towcars as their number one choice. Chris Jeffries, Editor of Caravan Times.co.uk, said,”Among our forum members Volkswagen is renowned as a reliable, practical and economical choice. The Passat Estate beat off strong competition this year and we expect to see plenty of them at campsites across the UK in 2012″.

The Passat was also recognised earlier this year in June 2011 when the Passat Estate TDI 170 PS was named as champion at the Towcar Awards where experts from What Car?, Practical Caravan magazine and The Camping and Caravanning Club also gave it top honours.

The Jetta also triumphed at The Caravan Towcar of the Year Awards 2012 winning its price category and the Overall Towcar of the Year award, with the Touareg also picking up a couple of awards too.

Volkswagen up!

The new Volkswagen up! city car and the new Volkswagen Beetle have both been awarded five-star Euro NCAP ratings. The up! features Volkswagen’s innovative City Emergency Braking function which scans the road ahead at speeds less than 18mph and if it detects an impending collision, brakes the car if necessary (i.e. you haven’t braked).

Both vehicles also attained top results in occupant protection in all seat positions and also excellent child protection results for 18 month and three-year old children.

New Beetle

Both cars have an impressive level of safety equipment with vehicle dynamic control (ESP) and seatbelt reminders both praised. The full results for both cars can be viewed at the Euro NCAP website and the up! and the new Beetle now join the Golf, Golf Cabriolet, Jetta, Passat, Polo, Scirocco, Sharan and Tiguan in achieving top safety marks. Volkswagen contract hire is on the site now for the whole range.

Volkswagen Passat Alltrack

Volkswagen has released the first images of their new Passat Alltrack, which is making its world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show next week, ahead of its introduction into the UK market in early 2012. The Passat Alltrack is based on the Passat Estate and features 4MOTION four-wheel drive and a raised height for off-road capability.

There are some stylish body enhancements as well, to protect the car from bumps and scrapes, with stainless steel-look front and rear underbody proetction panels and flared side sills. Other body features include matt chrome roof rails, window surrounds, grille and exterior mirror casings.

Volkswagen Passat Alltrack

The Passat Alltrack also features an off-road mode, similar to the one on the Tiguan Escape, which offers hill descent assist (when switched on from a button on the dashboard). The hill descent assist automatically brakes the vehicle when the descent angle is greater than 10 degrees. The car’s ABS system has also been altered with higher thresholds for operation on loose surfaces plus faster reacting electronic differential locks (EDS) to prevent wheelspin.

In the UK, the Passat Alltrack will be available to order from April 2012 and engine options are the 2.0-litre TDI 140 PS with six-speed manual gearbox or a 2.0-litre TDI 170 PS with six-speed DSG transmission. Standard vehicle equipment on both models includes Alcantara upholstery, 2Zone electronic climate control, cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring system, MDI iPod connectivity, Bluetooth telephone preparation and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion

The Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion has just added another green award to its bulging trophy cabinet having been named as Green Vehicle of the Year at the 2011 AFCO Fleet Awards last week. ACFO (Association of Car Fleet Operators) is the UK’s largest body representing UK businesses which run fleets of cars or commercial vehicles.

The Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion offers a combined fuel economy of 74.3mpg and emits just 99g/km of CO2 and this award comes shortly after What Car? named the BlueMotion “small green family car” and Auto Express gave the car its Green Award honour.

The Volkswagen Passat and Golf models were also shortlisted for the ACFO Fleet Car of Year award and the Volkswagen Caddy was nominated in the Small Van of the Year category. Volkswagen contract hire is on the site now for all models.

Volkswagen CC

Volkswagen has released the first images of their new CC, before it makes its official unveiling at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November the 18th. The CC is the replacement for the Passat CC and offers four-door practicality with sleek coupe-like styling.

In the UK the engine range will comprise of a 1.8-litre TSI 160 PS or 2.0-litre TSI 210 PS petrol models plus a 2.0-litre diesel engine with either 140 PS or 170 PS on offer. Any model with 170 PS or more also gets XDS differential (electronic cross-axle traction control) as standard.

The front of the car has a new radiator grille with strong horizontal lines that demonstrates Volkswagen’s new design DNA and is flanked by new bi-xenon headlights and finished off with a reprofiled bumper. The frameless doors are carried over from the previous model but with more sculpted sills.

Volkswagen CC rear

At the rear the bumper has had a complete redesign with new LED tail lights and as usual, the Volkswagen logo doubles as the handle for the boot. The CC has a comprehensive standard equipment list and now includes new features such as the standard driver alert system and will go on sale in early 2012, with first deliveries expected for the new 12 plate in March.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, (SMMT), has announced that April new car market registrations fell by 7.4% to 137,746 units, however this figure was ahead of expectations by 1.5%.

Registrations for the first 4 months of the year are down 8.5% to 696,082, but the full-year figure forecast remains the same at 1.93 million units. Fleet business (25+vehicle registrations) was up by 6.5% in April and diesel sales also recorded a strong growth.

The top 10 selling cars in April were as follows;

1. Ford Fiesta -6,755 units
2. Volkswagen Golf – 4,973 units
3. Vauxhall Astra – 4,900 units
4. Vauxhall Corsa 4,888 units
5. Ford Focus – 4,843 units
6. Volkswagen Polo – 4,524 units
7. Vauxhall Insignia- 3,912 units
8. Nissan Qashqai- 3,738 units
9. BMW 3 Series – 3,133 units
10. Volkswagen Passat -2,720 units

Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive, said,”New car registrations in April demonstrated continued stability in the marketplace, with demand remaining lower than in 2010, although slightly ahead of industry expectations. The coming months will remain challenging, but we do expect to see a return to growth in the second half of the year”.

If you are thinking of getting a new car for your business, car leasing is a cost-effective way of financing and we have prices on all makes and models on the site now.

New VW Eos

Volkswagen has announced the new details of the updated Volkswagen Eos convertible. The Eos remains the only vehicle of its kind to feature a five piece metal folding hard top with integrated glass sunroof and the new model has been brought into line with the styling direction as seen in the Polo, Golf and Passat.

The front gets a new bumper, a set of new headlights, front bonnet and wings that are similar to those on the Golf and at the rear there are new lights and trims plus the option of a new leather finish. The car is powered by a powerful TSI petrol or TDI diesel engine with power outputs ranging from 122 PS to 210 PS and comes in a six-speed manual or six-speed DSG auto on some selected models. Volkswagen business car leasing for all the new models will be loaded shortly and the new range is detailed below.

New Volkswagen Eos range

New VW Eos

The new Volkswagen Eos convertible coupe will make its public debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show on the 17th November, however Volkswagen has released some pictures of the new car now.

The car still features a five piece folding roof with an integrated tilt glass sunroof, which opens in just 25 seconds. The main design modification is the changes to the front grille that bring it in line with the new Passat, Polo and Sharan. The new grille has chrome highlights, plus a set of new headlights with optional LED daytime running lights.

Highlights inside include a leather multi-function steering wheel, air conditioning and a powerful eight-speaker CD stereo system and sports seats. The engines include the 1.4-litre TSI petrol developing 122PS, a 2.0-litre TSI petrol unit (210PS) and well as a 2.0-litre TDI developing 140PS. The diesel unit, in BlueMotion Technology specification with Stop/Start and battery regeneration systems, offers a combined mpg of 58.8. Prices and full vehicle specifications will be released closer to the launch date in November this year.

Volkswagen Phaeton

The new Volkswagen Phaeton was unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show earlier this year and Volkswagen has announced the pricing on this new luxury saloon car. Two 3.0-litre TDI V6 engine variants are available in short or long wheelbase plus a powerful 6.0-litre W12 in long wheelbase.

The new Phaeton gets a new face, which mirrors the new Passat shown at Paris this week and has bi-xenon headlight units with LED running lights plus new LED fog lights. At the rear, the unit lights sit above a redesigned rear bumper plus new alloy wheel designs are also available. Inside the car comes with an RNS 810 satellite navigation system which comes with optional Google Maps for the first time, plus a powerful 1,000-watt Dynaudio soundpack.

Other standard equipment includes 4MOTION four-wheel drive, eight airbags, laminated glass, Continuous Damping Control (CDC) adjustable air suspension, leather upholstery, 18-way adjustable electric seats and air conditioning. Volkswagen car leasing for this new model should be loaded shortly.

Auto Windscreens factory

Automotive glazing companies are finding a shortage of windscreens, following the worst winter in the UK for nearly 30 years. Auto Windscreens has found that many vehicle owners are having to wait for replacement parts, particularly for the Vauxhall Zafira, Astra, Vectra, Volkswagen Passat, Golf and the Audi A4.

As a result Auto Windscreens has increased production by more than 40% at its own factory in Chesterfield, to cope with this demand and is now producing 600 windscreens a day. Nigel Davies, Auto Windscreens Sales and Marketing Director commented,”It’s unusual to have a national shortage of windscreens and we’ve certainly not come across this before. Auto Windscreens is in the fortunate and unique position, however, that we can simply add another shift at our factory and increase popular windscreen models to meet demand and manage the delays”.