VW showed their L1 Concept at Frankfurt this year. It’s an updating of a similar design from a few years back. Essentially it’s a 1+1 diesel powered city car-esque design study that will get the greenies all up in a fine lather but will be sort of threatening to old school car guys.

I’m not sure why that is though. There’s long been this perception that gearheads must fight tooth and nail against cars like the Smart or the Prius or, for that matter, the L1 Concept. Because if we don’t, then somehow the big bad evil government will force us to only drive in Smarts with 29 MPH speed limiters while eating tofu and listening to Enya.

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Cruddy time to be an automaker it would seem … unless you’re Volkswagen that is. VW’s sales numbers for July looked surprisingly good, and it’s all down to one reason: People can’t get their hands on the new VW clean diesels fast enough, especially the Jetta TDi SportWagen. It seems logical if you think about it. There are a number of conspiring factors. Times is tight, so people want to save money, and those new TDis are sweet mills.

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VW’s Tiguan, their still new small-ish SUV has a lot going for it. Everyone who’s driven it says it’s well screwed together, and the size is right for more driving situations than say, a Hummer. You wouldn’t think that an SUV the size of a Tiguan would check out that well in the crash department, but it turns out that it just passed with flying colors.

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What’s this? Actual common sense from the auto world? One can only hope, but the signs are looking good that Volkswagen is actually going to make a production version of its knockout BlueSport roadster concept car.

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Volkswagen seems to be on a real tear these days with continuing rumors of them acquiring Porsche outright, and sales numbers indicating that they could displace GM and become the second largest automaker in the world. And now word comes out that VW will be partnering with the Chinese automaker BYD to make electric cars.

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2009 VW Jetta TDI

They finally did it! They finally made a diesel-powered car that everyone can live with. In the past, diesels have been mostly ignored by US consumers, save for a small die-hard fan base. Most consumers didn’t even look twice at one, assuming they’ll be driving a slow car, spitting black smoke, dirtying up the air, and rumbling like a loud tractor.

Volkswagen has been selling the Jetta TDI is the States for years, but had to take it off the market in 2007 due to stricter emissions laws. For 2009, VW reworked the 2.0-liter TDI four cylinder engine, and made it better than ever. The new engine now produces a livable power rating of 140hp and a surprising 236 lb-ft of torque. It’s also cleaner than ever. It passes emission standards in all 50 states (even California) with flying colors due to a new exhaust filtering method that doesn’t sacrifice fuel economy.

The true beauty of what VW has done here with the 2009 Jetta TDI is in its subtlety. If you removed the “TDI” badge and gave this car to an average unsuspecting driver, he wouldn’t know it’s powered by a diesel engine, and that’s exactly what we need to get average consumers to drive diesels here in the States. Continue Reading…