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VW First Drives

Volkswagen is the original brand within the Volkswagen Group that also contains Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Ducati and Scania. The brand traces its roots back to Ferdindand Porsche, founder of Porsche, who developed the original Volkswagen Beetle for the German government. The Beetle entered the US market in 1949 and today the Volkswagen brand produces a full line of vehicles including many diesel-powered models.

VW Vehicles:

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First Drive: 2015 Volkswagen GTI [w/video] 1366991820

The 911 Of Hot Hatches Takes The Compact Game To New Levels North American car buyers get a bit of a slap in the face when it comes to delivery schedules for new the Volkswagen Golf and pumped-up GTI models. We'll just repeat the old chestnut: It's worth the wait... even though it still stinks. This time around, Western Europe is taking deliveries of the ...
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First Drive: 2014 Volkswagen XL1 [w/video] 1363017420

World's Most Efficient Car Impresses, Not Without Compromises Among our many duties at the recent Geneva Motor Show, we were offered a pretty exclusive drive in the new Volkswagen XL1 hyper-efficient plug-in diesel hybrid. There is so much that is interesting about a car like this reaching production from a major automaker that it's tough to know where ...
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First Drive: 2013 Volkswagen Golf R Cabriolet 1362675420

The Golf VI's Last Hurrah Is Pure Niche This was in the heart of the ultra-chic Côte d'Azur during winter. The car to be tested was the not-for-North America 2013 Volkswagen Golf R Cabriolet. Prevailing weather conditions here this time of year are bizarrely pleasant, as though a dome of Swarovski crystal has been placed over the entire region to ...
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First Drive: 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI Convertible 1354553820

Top Down In North America's Only Diesel Convertible Want proof that diesel is finally taking hold in North America? Look no further than this 2013 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible. For a while now, it's become easier to understand why more automakers are opting to pair their large-volume models with diesel, but it's only when a given technology or feature ...
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First Drive: 2014 Volkswagen Golf [w/video] 1352307420

This Little VW Just Went Premium The fortunes of Volkswagen in the United States are moving steadily upward in direct correlation to how serious Wolfsburg has become about our market, a market it frankly neglected badly for about three full decades. The era of neglect is over now and the Germans are focusing especially hard on North American drivers who ...

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First Drive: 2013 Volkswagen CC 1326992280

Sleek Four-Door Coupe Noses Upmarket When European deliveries of the then new Volkswagen Passat CC started back in late 2007, even in its home market, the know-it-alls received it with skepticism. There didn't seem to be any burning need for a sexed-up four-door based on a Passat chassis. Was there an audience large enough for a Mercedes-Benz ...
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First Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Up! [w/video] 1324573020

VW Finally Rediscovers Its (Very) Small Car Roots Big old Volkswagen is back to thinking small, and it's finally doing it right. After a frankly awful attempt at supplying the rest of the world with cheap tin boxes by the name of Fox and an only modestly successful run with the Lupo, company bosses have done some soul searching and this is the result: a ...
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Review: 2012 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo 1323277020

Learning To Love The Bug Volkswagen began building buzz for the 2012 Beetle long before we caught a glimpse of the first spy shots. The company's executives were throwing phrases like "fun to drive," "masculine" and "Porsche-derived styling" toward the would-be Beetle successor as far back as the 2010 Paris Motor Show. In this business, you either learn ...
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First Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI 1314719820

A GTI For The Masses We've given Volkswagen a fair amount of flack for the 2011 Jetta – and justifiably so. All the things we held dear in previous generations – high-end materials, solid driving dynamics and that general sense of premium the Germans do so well – were all nixed in the name of market share. But as we suspected, it's ...
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First Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo 1310659020

Getting Back To Being A Credible Car For The Times Volkswagen's choice of Berlin for the launch of its 2012 Beetle inevitably struck us Yanks as curious – and not just because of the horrible abundance of construction projects in the city that makes driving a relative concept at best. The last time a Beetle was unveiled to massive acclaim in ...