Audi has raided the castle at Wolfsburg and changes are in store. New boss Martin Winterkorn has ordered that the new Scirocco, Golf and Passat be presented for scrutiny. Rounding out the new royal court at Volkswagen will be a coterie of raiders from Ingolstadt, among them Walter de'Silva. de'Silva will be tweezing the look of the new cars until Winterkorn is satsified. Also, the petrol-powered V10 returns to the Touareg, giving back a unique offering and hopefully enticing sales. We're not sure what Mr. Winterkorn doesn't like about the styling of the new cars, but we're hopeful that de'Silva will be allowed to stretch his legs and stun us when the re-designs start trickling out. As Winterkorn consolidates and centralizes power in Wolfsburg, we're sure to see bigger changes coming out of Volkswagen and its brands. We're all for it - what's the worst they can do, screw up? Judging from de'Silva's portfolio, that's not bloody likely.
[Source: Germancarblog]
CAR reveals spy shots of McLaren P11 supercar
2010 Chevrolet Camaro priced: LS $22,995, SS $30,995
BREAKING: GM and Chrysler talking about merger
Spy Shots: Nissan 370Z again, with interior shots
2010 Mazda3 unveiled ahead of LA Auto Show
In the Autobog Garage: 2009 Chevy Cobalt SS Turbo
Knight Rider: The Liveblog -- Season 1, Episode 3
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Mazda RX-8 R3, return of the "hummer"
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Chevy Corvette Z06
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tiago do Vale @ Jan 19th 2007 10:26AM
Are we talking about a later restyle, or are they are going to delay the launch of the new cars?
The delay doesn't sound right...
Hello @ Jan 19th 2007 10:26AM
Now about that horrible reliability and build quality record which spans across VW's brands... Style only get yous so far in the smart consumer's book.
Mario Vos @ Jan 19th 2007 10:56AM
The writer of this article seems to be a fan of de Silva. We should keep in mind that he designed only one really beautiful car, the Alfa Romeo 156. He then copied the rear lights to all the other brands he later worked for and made the radiatorgrilles far to big (Audi). I hope he will keep his fingers (or pencils) from the VW-design, as it was just getting better for the first time in many years.
jgp @ Jan 19th 2007 11:02AM
Eh, I love the new Audi grilles. They're rather impressive.
On the other hand, I can't stand the current Jetta and Passat, and I much preferred the previous Jetta/Bora and Passat. That goes double for the Passat--the previous Passat was an absolutely beautiful design, and the current one is just ugly.
I do, however, like the current Golf/Rabbit quite a bit. It's amazing how much removing that ugly trunk and changing the grill improves the whole design.
Matt B @ Jan 19th 2007 11:31AM
Yes, hopefully they are redesigning the Jetta, Golf, and Passats. I can't stand the new look. They look like every other Honda, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, etc, out there. With the old pre 2005 look, you new it was a VW. Now, you can't tell. The old look was so much better.
NTex @ Jan 19th 2007 11:47AM
Petrol, or diesel-powered V10?
chewy @ Jan 19th 2007 4:38PM
Winterkorn has done an excellent job with Audis, I trust that he will do well with VW as well.
kheller @ Jan 19th 2007 9:47PM
First of all, I think the new VW designs are good. Granted, not amazing, but they are good. But they are definitely not ugly or horrible as some have said. Well, maybe the Jetta was not executed well, but the Golf/GTI and Passat are good, sound designs.
Second, what de Silva has done with Audi is amazing, grilles included. I am confident (relieved, in fact) that he's tweaking some of the designs. Can't wait to see what he can do.
mike @ Jan 19th 2007 11:35PM
Maybe VW can review the proposal for this car which was killed off in favor of the ridiculous green machine design.
http://www.autobild.de/projektor/galerie.php?artikel_id=10233&pos=0
Tony Altomare @ Jan 20th 2007 1:08PM
Being a VW Dealer I welcome these changes. Let's face it the new Passat isn't as stunning as the '99 was when it came out. The new Jetta isn't as sporty as the old one and there isn't much whow in the new golf. Right now the Eos is the car that complitely has all customers surprised it's a VW becouse it's so beautiful. One of the problem that VW has in the US is understanding that when it calls a model Sport or Turbo or GLi, it better be looking sporty and racing standing still.
pow @ Jan 21st 2007 9:16AM
who'd want to buy a VW anywhay. he might as well resign frrom VW and get with a brand with less quality issues.
ted @ Jan 22nd 2007 6:51PM
The Golf's in particular, if not the jetta as well, require too much fitment time to get things lined up. The doors on the GTI take something like $300 in parts and labor to shim up and fit correctly.
Alan Gregory @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:58AM
Having been the owner of two Toyota products that were purchased new. None were perfect, and they were true Toyotas from Japan not the American made.
89 Celica GTS steering rack bad at 11k. ac never could be repaired to work longer than 3 hours of continous driving. Interior light problems. Factory cruise control never worked (not port or dealer installed) got rid of car at 18,000 miles.
Got a 91 GTS, starter bad at 3,000 miles required being towed. Transmission had to be replaced neutralized while accelerating. Used oil between oil changes 2 quarts every 3000 miles Toyota rep said this is normal and not excessive. Alternator bad at 38,000 miles 675.00 alternator had to come from dealer no aftermarket or remans allowed.
Now I have owned three Volkswagens the Jetta and New Beetle. Just recently took delivery of a 2007 New Beetle. I have yet to have any problems with any of them. I drive these cars hard and they take it.
It was sad that Volkswagen designed the new Jetta and Passat to look so much like the cheaper Toyota Corolla, and Accord. But thank goodness they kept the Euro upscale interior fit and finish.
So I have not seen any quality problems yet, as I did with the Toyota brand.