A quick look at some new members of the Volkswagen lineup

Volkswagen is working hard to become the largest automaker in the world. It’s a quest that demands strong sales figures from all parts of the Volkswagen Group family, with most of the pressure placed on Audi and VW itself. An internal goal was announced last year, which pegged the VW sales target at 800,000 units per year in the United States.

The automaker wants to hit that goal by 2018. To reach that target, Volkswagen sales will need to climb 14 percent per year, every year from here on out (thanks for that number Forbes, we’re not good at the maths). That’s rather ambitious, but dealers around the country are getting help thanks to the Volkswagen product planning department.

The current lineup features a family of cars that’ve been refreshed, updated, or are all-new. Let’s take a closer look at a handful of them.

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Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup

Despite having reviewed a few vanilla crossovers and V6 wannabe muscle cars, I suspect this may be our most contentious review subject to date.

To some, Volkswagen is synonymous with high quality, affordable driver’s cars that punch above their weight. To others, the brand means overpriced German Corollas that aren’t really fast, and fall apart after 50,000 miles. Similarly, the idea of a diesel performance car is baffling to some, but pure Goldilocks to others.

After a week with the Jetta TDI Cup, we’re still trying to figure it out.

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2010 Volkswagen Tiguan

I enjoy difficult challenges. My day job involves using implantable medical devices to help paralyzed people walk and I race a 3-speed automatic-equipped 1982 BMW 633csi in the 24 Hours of LeMons. Now I find myself trying to write a review that someone might actually want to read, about a brownish grey front wheel drive crossover.

Luckily, if one has to write a review of a brownish grey front wheel drive crossover, the VW Tiguan equipped with the 2.0T engine is probably the best option.

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2010 Volkswagen GTI

200 turbocharged horses and 207 lbs-ft of torque in a two-door hatchback with a 200 pound man behind the wheel. Ok…220. I’m driving the 2010 Volkswagen GTI, the sixth and latest generation of the German automakers beloved compact sports car. It’s a modern hot hatch which still draws upon its 1976 first generation roots (1983 for the US). It matches style and performance in a compact package which is as happy to be tearing up a winding mountain road as it is being employed as an efficient daily driver.

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2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI (aka The GDI)

America, you don’t know what you want…

“I want to get  great fuel economy, so I think I should buy a hybrid”, says your mother. “I want a car that is fun to drive, so I have to have a sports car”, says your father. Since this is the Hooniverse, we want something that most closely resembles a joint French-Italian-American sport wagon muscle car with all-wheel drive, a turbocharged and supercharged V10 engine, and a manual transmission – for that is the only way we will be happy. Mitch, well … he is Canadian so he just needs a snowmobile and a curling puck/disc/thing(?). Unfortunately, we can’t have everything we want in one package (until Audi brings over the RS6 Avant). However, there are vehicles available that provide a wonderful compromise.

One such car is the 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI: a compact, diesel-powered, manual transmission-equipped, hatchback that brings the fun while achieving great fuel economy numbers. … Continue Reading

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