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VW's Winterkorn tells 20,000 staffers of big cost-cutting plans

During a gathering of 20,000 Volkswagen Group employees at company headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany on Wednesday, CEO Martin Winterkorn dropped a bombshell. The boss stated that the automaker isn't operating efficiently enough and admitted the company needs to radically start cutting back to raise its profit margins. To right the ship, Winterkorn has proposed killing off less profitable models and spending less on research and development.

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VW confirms SUV for Chattanooga; will add 2,000 jobs including new R&D center

Broadcasting from its "Mobile Life Campus" in Wolfsburg, Germany (and crowing about Germany's World Cup win last night), Volkswagen has just announced that its new "Midsize SUV" will be built at the company's Chattanooga, TN manufacturing facility. Further, the company says it will establish a new "National Research & Development and Planning Center" at the Tennessee campus.

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VW confirms development of 10-speed dual clutch, 134-hp/liter diesel

Each year, the Vienna International Motor Symposium showcases some of the up-and-coming technologies automakers are engineering for the use in passenger cars, and Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn revealed some big developments VW is working on for its future products. Winterkorn discussed a multi-faceted approach that VW is looking to reduce its fleet fuel consumption and exhaust e

Automotive News names its industry All-Stars

Automotive News has announced its annual list of Industry All-Stars. This year, the theme is apparently "success in the face of economic uncertainty," or something of that liking. The list points to executives who have led their respective brands and automakers to positive sales in spite of the European financial crisis and slowing sales in China. See the list below, and you'll understand why:

Sergio Marchionne calls VW execs 'reprehensible,' singles out Piech

Fiat chairman Sergio Marchionne said Friday he will keep his title of President of the European Automotive Manufacturers Association [ACEA], a day after he excoriated Volkswagen executives for calling for his resignation and suggesting in public that Fiat would not survive the economic recession in Europe without a government rescue.

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VW CEO Winterkorn happy with rebounding Seat, Skoda

Martin Winterkorn is a happy man: Volkswagen is putting up big numbers in North America, its latest field of dreams, Audi, is breaking records every month, there are exciting cars in the pipeline – from Bugatti down to the XL1, Porsche's digestion continues, and now Skoda and especially Jonathon Ramsey

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