Rumormill: Volkswagen BlueSport roadster production plans halted
Volkswagen Bluesport Concept - Click above for a high-res gallery
In a new (and very brief) report, UK's Channel4 reports that a production version of Volkswagen's comely BlueSport concept has been delayed.
While details are slim, Channel4 says that a company insider came clean to journalists about the diesel roadster's demise at a recent Australian press event, and according to said source, the reason for the model's mothballing is that the company believes that the dire global economy won't support niche products like the BlueSport.
The report stops short of saying that the company has axed the program altogether, but presumably, if the BlueSport is delayed or dead, so are rumored versions from Audi and Seat. There is no word on when the model might get a second chance at life, so for now, the BlueSport faces an uncertain future.
[Source: Channel4]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Throwback 1:32PM (5/19/2009)
Porsche was supposed to get a version as well. I think the non merger of VW/Porsche
probably has more to do with it. Porsche would have sold their version at a nice premium thus off setting the intial cost of the program.
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zamafir 1:47PM (5/19/2009)
I'm not so sure. VW just needs to cover a few costs here and there, most of the components are done and they would have sold it at a high enough price to hopefully offset those costs themselves. The problem is, that price, while reasonable in terms of performance and engine layout etc, would be hard to swallow even in today’s economy.
With Porsche having indicated some quarters ago that the only significant sales drop they’ve seen in terms of numbers is their lowest models I find it highly unlikely they’d push for an even lower car, compromised even further, in a segment of their products which is contracting the most.
As with the North American release of the Q5 TDI, i'm sad to see this placed on hold.
James 2:23PM (5/19/2009)
Alas but another VW...."vaporware" added to the dream list.
sparrk 2:28PM (5/19/2009)
Porsche already said they don't want to build something cheaper than the Boxster. i was looking forward to see the Seat version of this roadster , i like the new Seat style.
audi_arena 3:16PM (5/19/2009)
First off, this car IS under development, and will definitley be an Audi TT replacement and next generation porsche boxster.
Here's my theory: I always thought it was a stretch to have a platform that VW could share with porsche and Audi at a reasonable price point. Perhapse development of this car got so expensive that they couldn't justify a VW version.
A next generation Porsche Boxster has some really big shoes to fill, and if Audi is planning what I hear they are planning: an "R4" replacement to the TT with serious performance that is designed to put Audi on the sports car map, I would be blown away if they could cheapen it enough to hit a price point that it would sell at as a VW. (remember what happend with the phaeton?)
...I really think this has nothing to do with the powerplant, as any of these chasis these days can accomidate a variety of diferent engines.
PJ 5:59PM (5/19/2009)
Do you mean the *next* next-generation Boxster? IIRC, the 2011 model has already been spied at the 'Ring, with appearances suggesting evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes. If you know otherwise, do tell.
I've been waiting for a car like this for a while (specifically since 2002, when the MR2 Spyder died). I love my Miatas, but really prefer mid-engined to FR and I don't need the extra insurance and maintenance costs that come with a used Boxster.
taipeileviathan 1:35PM (5/19/2009)
color me not surprised. too bad tho, really... i would not even think of buying a turbodiesel sports car from anyone but audi/vw.
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Sea Urchin 1:55PM (5/19/2009)
When i first saw this car on the cover of Automobile Mag (maybe Motor Trend) and on the cover it said that it will cost in low-mid 20's i was smitten. This car is just amazing.
Farris 2:11PM (5/19/2009)
Here's another person that's not surprised. I've loved VWs for the longest time, but I'm starting to get out of them. They have had WAY WAY WAY too many cool concepts that were left on the cutting room floor for me.
VW: Start listening to your fanbase, or they will turn away from you like they were doing in the early nineties, before the Concept 1 was released.
BoxerFanatic 2:58PM (5/19/2009)
I wouldn't buy a diesel for any sort of sporting intention anyway...
And for fuel efficiency, diesels are fine, but then they might as well be a more practical FWD econo-box with a bit of cargo room, like a Golf or Scirrocco, than a mid-engined sport chassis, with a non-sport economy/mileage engine.
(and yes, I have heard all about the V12 TDI LeMans series cars, but that isn't the engine we are talking about here... we've all had that argument before... The 4-cyl TDI is an economy engine, not a performance engine.)
Practical is practical, sport is sport. Different horses for different courses.
but I am sorry to see that the product is cancelled, as a gasoline turbo engine in a little mid-engined sporter would have been nice, since the demise of the MR2 Spyder, and hopefully with more cargo room than for a pack of chewing gum. A bag of groceries or two would be fine....
But it is a moot point now.
jon 1:36PM (5/19/2009)
What a surprise...
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Max Palmer 1:38PM (5/19/2009)
Shame. That looks like a nice piece of kit there.
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crawford.kirk 1:40PM (5/19/2009)
It gives me that Saturn feel.
W. Kirk Crawford
Tularosa, New Mexico
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John Johnson 1:42PM (5/19/2009)
R8 wheels? VW, you really couldn't come up with anything more original than that? :p
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zamafir 1:57PM (5/19/2009)
... do you happen to have a link of an R8 sporting these wheels, I'd love to see it.
These aren't the standard wheels featured on the R8, the distance between each pair of double spokes being obviously wider, and the flare where the wheel connects to the center different.
I'm not being nitpicky, i'd seriously like to see the R8 with some spokes less widly spaced but not as angular as the R8 V10's stnadard bits.
John Johnson 2:05PM (5/19/2009)
Eh, it looks like you are indeed correct. They're slightly different... but they look similar enough for me to consider them uncreative :D
zamafir 2:34PM (5/19/2009)
lol, yeah defiantly influenced by the R8 :). Probably the same designer, ill ask.
asifgrkhan 2:51PM (5/19/2009)
Looks more like M35 Wheels to me.
http://catalog.thewheelwarehouse.com/images/IN44.jpg
John 1:42PM (5/19/2009)
Ahhh yes. Just as the death of the fun car is announced with the new CAFE increase, VW kills one of the few cars that could have survived and prospered state side in this new fuel efficient world. Joy.
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EndOfFun 1:42PM (5/19/2009)
Whoo! New CAFE standards!
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