Company Launches CD with Original Volkswagen Beetle Sounds

It may be too late for Father’s Day, but there’s nothing stopping you from picking up The Beetles: Greatest Sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s for dad as a very early Christmas present.

Not to be confused with The Beatles, a little known British band that has all but faded into obscurity, The Beetles is a CD of car sounds dating from 1960 to 1978. And not just any car sounds: Volkswagen Beetle car sounds…

Yes, you can now rock out to such timeless classics as “Gears 1 - 2”, “Long Idle” and “Turn-Off, Handbrake”. With 30 tracks (well, 10 tracks spread across 3 different engines), your dad will be over the moon will this mass produced one-of-a-kind CD.

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IAA 2011: Volkswagen Pays Tribute to Fender with New Beetle Concept

The high-performance Beetle R Concept was joined at VW's Frankfurt Motor Show stage by a second conceptual study that pays tribute to famed U.S.-based music instrument manufacturer, Fender.

Mimicking the styling used on an electric guitar customized by Volkswagen Design, the Fender Telecaster, the bespoke Beetle study is painted in a high-gloss "Black" finish with a fine red line framing the side windows.

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VW Wants Number One Spot, Will Invest US$86 Billion to Achieve its Goal

Volkswagen’s Supervisory Board has approved a cash influx of €62.4 billion (US$86 billion) into its automotive division over the course of five years. The investment is necessary if VW’s plan to overtake GM and Toyota and become the world’s number one car manufacturer is to succeed. Read more »

IAA 2011: New Polo R is VW’s WRC Weapon of Choice

Volkswagen has finally decided to enter the World Rally Championship. Its contender will be the factory-backed Polo R WRC, which was on display at the 64th International Auto Show in Frankfurt.

What drew VW to the WRC was the change of rules by FIA for the 2011 season and onwards, which demand 1.6-liter turbocharged engines with direct injection, in order to keep up with the downsizing trend in road-going cars and lessen the development costs for the teams, thus drawing more competitors to the series.

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IAA 2011: Volkswagen's Single-Seater NILS EV Concept

The Frankfurt Motor Show is abuzz this week with a variety of small pure electric concept cars. Volkswagen's contribution to the segment is a single-seater urban study named NILS, which the company claims has been "very realistically conceptualized".

"[The] NILS is a vehicle that anticipates the future. It looks as though someone has projected it back from the year 2030 to the world of today," says Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the Board of Management and Head of Development for the Volkswagen Brand.

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IAA 2011: VW Unveils a Handful of Up! Concepts Including GT, EV and Crossover Variants

Making their world premiere alongside the series production Up! in Frankfurt, are six new concept versions of Volkswagen's new city car. We've already shown the you the Buggy Up! that harks back to the 1960's model, so we'll concentrate on the five other Up! studies.

First up! (pun intended), is the sportiest prototype of the bunch, aptly named GT Up!. Volkswagen says a possible production version of the GT could be fitted with a small displacement engine delivering 100-horsepower or 25HP more than the most powerful Up! available at launch.

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IAA 2011: Skoda MissionL Concept Previews New Compact Sedan [Updated Gallery]

Czech car manufacturer and member of the VW Group, Skoda, is on a…mission at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show to preview its upcoming compact sedan model with a close to production ready concept car named MissionL.

The production model will be positioned between the smaller Fabia and the larger Octavia challenging the likes of the Focus sedan in Europe, Russia, China, and India. Skoda said the as-of-yet unnamed compact sedan will launch in India by the end of 2011 and the rest of the world in the beginning of next year.

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Volkswagen Buggy Up! Study is Ready to Hit the Beach

The world premiere of Volkswagen's new Up! mini in Frankfurt did not involve only the production version as the German company also unwrapped a variety of concept models based on the small city car.

The most impressive study is the Buggy Up! that pays homage to the original, Beetle-based model of the same name that was born in California in the 1960s.

The concept model features a lightweight construction with extensive body reinforcements and a roll bar behind the two seats to compensate for the loss of the roof and the doors.

The body has been redesigned while the car's ride height was dropped by 20mm. At 3,584 mm long and 1,672 mm wide, the Buggy Up! is slightly longer and wider than the hatchback model it is based on.

The two-seater rides on 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped around 205/40 tires.

Being a proper beach vehicle, the revamped interior is completely waterproof with specially designed drains in the vehicle floor and the open side sills preventing flooding.

While Volkswagen did not make it clear if the Buggy Up! will make it into production, the German automaker said the concept signifies the beginning of an entire series of cars based on the Up!.

PHOTO GALLERY

IAA 2011: Volkswagen Beetle R Concept Hints at 260HP+ Production Model

Ever since it became known that Volkswagen was developing the new generation of the Beetle, there were rumors about a high-performance variant wearing the 'R' badge. Earlier this year, the German company introduced the production model but the most powerful version was fitted with a 2.0-liter TSI producing 200-horses. Fast but not fast enough.

However, this may soon change as Volkswagen is giving us the clearest indication of its future plans yet with the unveiling of the new Beetle R Concept at this week's Frankfurt Motor Show.

Beginning with the exterior, the Beetle R Concept sports a subtly aggressive design with newly sculpted bumpers that were widened by 30 mm, and blistered wheel arches widened by 15mm per side that house massive 20-inch wheels in the same “Talladega” design found on the Golf R and Scirocco R models.

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IAA 2011: Volkswagen Buggy Up! Study is Ready to Hit the Beach

The world premiere of Volkswagen's new Up! mini in Frankfurt did not involve only the production version as the German company also unwrapped a variety of concept models based on the small city car.

The most impressive study is the Buggy Up! that pays homage to the original, Beetle-based model of the same name that was born in California in the 1960s.

The concept model features a lightweight construction with extensive body reinforcements and a roll bar behind the two seats to compensate for the loss of the roof and the doors.

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IAA 2011: Live Photos from the VW Group's Frankfurt Preview Event

The Volkswagen Group has readied a little something for everyone at this year's 64th International Auto Show in Frankfurt, from the tiny Audi Urban concepts and the production VW Up!, to the striking Seat IBL study and the brand new Porsche 911.

At a special preview event in Frankfurt, the VW Group rolled out some of its most important goods including the new Bentley Continental GTC, the limited edition Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 ST Trofeo, the Audi RS5 facelift and A2 Concept,while the Germans even brought along the bespoke Bugatti Veyron L'or Blanc.

Hop over the jump to check out a high-resolution gallery with more than 70 photos.

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Suzuki wants to Dissolve Partnership with Volkswagen, but the Germans Say ‘Nein’

In a move more or less anticipated after the recent publication of Volkswagen's internal review that accuses Suzuki of breaking a contract agreement between the two companies by purchasing diesel engines from Fiat, the Japanese carmaker said it will abort its alliance with the German group.

Suzuki's announcement comes almost two years after it forged a partnership with Volkswagen. The German had acquired a 19.9 per cent stake in Suzuki Motor Corp in December 2009 for 225 billion Yen (then, approx US$2.5 billion) while the Japanese automaker agreed to invest up to one half of the amount received from the German automaker into shares of Volkswagen.

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Official: VW Says Suzuki Violated Agreement by Purchasing Diesel Engines from Fiat

It's no secret that Volkswagen's business relationship with Suzuki after the Germans acquired a 19.9 percent of the Japanese manufacture's shares in December 2009 under a strategic cooperation has been a deeply troubled one. However, up until now, the two sides tried to keep the problems "in house".

But today, following recent comments from the Japanese firm's chairman Osamu Suzuki that the two companies "aren't even talking", the Volkswagen Group decided to make these problems public with an official announcement.

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VW and Porsche Postpone Merger Plans but Say “Goal Remains Unchanged”

Volkswagen and Porsche announced that they do not expect their merger to be accomplished within the period they originally established. In late 2009, VW acquired a 49.9% stake in Porsche for €3.9 billion ($5.3 billion) and initiated an integration plan that would be completed before the end of 2011. Read more »

IAA 2011: Volkswagen Prepares Mega Exhibition Stand with 97,000 sq ft

Volkswagen's star attractions at this year's edition of the Frankfurt Motor Show may be the pint-sized Nils Concept and the Up! city car, but there's nothing small about the German firm's exhibition stand which measures a whopping 97,000 square feet or close to 9,000 square meters.

The cloud-like shaped booth will host more than 50 vehicles focusing on the Up! city car, which is making its public debut along with the Nils single-seat electric commuting vehicle concept and the recently unveiled new generation Beetle, facelifted Tiguan and Golf Cabriolet.

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VW Accessories Commercial Welcomes the New Beetle to the 21st Century

Volkswagen's new/old approach to the second generation of the New Beetle (not counting the original Bug), continues with this latest commercial that promotes the available customization options from its Accessories division.

The setup is fairly futuristic with the owner of the 21st century Beetle fiddling around with a virtual configurator that features a laser-like interface to build the car of his dreams.

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Volkswagen and Suzuki Reportedly “Not Talking to Each Other"

“They are not talking to us, so we have no plans to talk to them”: it could be a high-school argument between two opposing teams, but in this case it involves Volkswagen and Suzuki, and the words came out of the mouth of the Japanese company's chairman, Osamu Suzuki’s, according to a report from Bloomberg news.

It all began in March when a VW report said that it “could significantly influence financial and operating policy decisions” at Suzuki, which it described as an “associate”.

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VW Introduces Cylinder Shut-off System on 1.4-liter 4-Cylinder TSI Engine

Volkswagen is already at the forefront of fuel-saving technology, as evidenced by both its production models and frugal concepts that we will see at the Frankfurt Motor Show. But now the German are taking another step forward by introducing a new technology: the first ever application of a cylinder-deactivation feature on a four-cylinder engine.

The system, which is usually reserved for larger engines but will now be offered on the 1.4-liter TSI, works by shutting off cylinders 2 and 3 when the engine operates in low to mid loads, and as a result, reduces average consumption by 0.4 lt/100 km.

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VW's Anniversary Golf GTI Edition 35 with 235HP Arrives in the UK

For those looking for a bit more muscle in their GTI, Volkswagen has launched the special anniversary edition of its hot hatch in Britain. Created to celebrate the Golf GTI's 35th birthday and first shown at the at the Worthersee Festival in Austria this past June, the Golf GTI Edition comes with a tuned 2.0 TFSI delivering 235HP.

The 25HP increase over the standard model allows the Golf Edition 35 to complete the 0-62mph (100km/h) sprint in 6.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 153mph (246km/h).

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