Autoblog

VW Bluesport Roadster might finally be dead before it lived

Jonathon Ramsey — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:40:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Convertible, Performance, Volkswagen

A Black Knight stalks the ramparts of corporate castles, he carries a shield decorated with a wreath of beans, he swings a double-edged spreadsheet and he rides a terrifying black mare called The Bottom Line. His name is The Business Case and if a new report from Autocar is accurate, he's done his foul work again, this time dealing another blow to the already-long-delayed Volkswagen Bluesport Roadster. Even though the engineering work for the two-seater convertible is reportedly finished, it appears no one can come up with a way to support the necessary sales projections of 50,000 units annually.

That is in part because Jonathan Browning, head of VW USA, apparently doesn't see the point of expanding VW's product portfolio with another model (a truly unexpected sentiment coming from Volkswagen as far as we're concerned). The U.S. being the largest consumer of sports cars, our sitting this one out puts the 2009 Detroit Auto Show showcar in a tough spot.

Synergies being what they are, that also puts Bluesport's brand brothers from Audi and Porsche in doubt. Audi plans for an R4 will apparently get iced in light of the news, but Porsche might have dodged a bullet: it wanted a four-cylinder 550-successor, but not one that would eat into Boxster sales, which this car almost certainly would. The Bluesport isn't officially dead yet, but at three years in and counting, you can be sure there's a hand on the life-support plug.

VW Bluesport Roadster might finally be dead before it lived originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Volkswagen Bluesport gets the green light

Zach Bowman — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:29:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Convertible, Budget, Performance, Europe, Plants/Manufacturing, Volkswagen, Rumormill, Diesel

Volkswagen BlueSport Concept - Click above for high-res image gallery

Now this is interesting. Hot on the heels of rumored turmoil in the VW/Audi/Porsche house over the BlueSport roadster, AutoExpress is reporting that VW has given the droptop concept the green light for production. Color us skeptical. It's not that we don't want to believe that VW has told its squabbling children to cool their jets so that ze people's automaker can bring the world an efficient and entertaining ragtop, it's just that there's a noticeable lack of details baked into the AutoExpress piece. Specifically, which of the three automakers will get to build the thing.

An "unnamed source" has confirmed the car for production and given the publication a quick peek at the final version of the car. Lucky them. AutoExpress goes on to say that the BlueSport will come with a 178-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo-diesel engine as standard equipment, though a variety of other power plants will also be available. Those include the twin-charged 1.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine from the Polo GTI as well as a turbo 2.0-liter gasser from the Golf GTI.

It all sounds great as it floats around the vast vacuum of the internet, but until we see something from Volkswagen itself, we're not exactly ready to call this one a done deal.

Gallery: Detroit Preview: Volkswagen BlueSport Concept

[Source: AutoExpress]

Report: Volkswagen Bluesport gets the green light originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Volkswagen mid-engine roadster coming to Detroit, not LA

John Neff — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:29:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, LA Auto Show, Convertible, Performance, Volkswagen

Automotive News is reporting that Volkswagen has moved the debut of its mid-engine roadster from this month at the LA Auto Show to January at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The only reason given for the move is that VW expects there to be more interest for the concept two-seater in Detroit than LA. We would hazard a guess that it's also got something to do with budgets being trimmed back, but what do we know.

There's still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the VW mid-engine roadster, like what size four-cylinder will be installed behind the seats and whether or not the platform will make extensive use of aluminum to keep weight down. Though the car debuting in Detroit will be a concept, a production version is expect in 2011 if things go according to plan. Because a two-seat, mid-engine roadster is anything but a volume seller, however, this new sportster from VW could be in danger of being cut due to the ailing auto market in the U.S.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Volkswagen mid-engine roadster coming to Detroit, not LA originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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