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Photos Of The 2015 Audi TT Roadster

Reports in October 2012 claimed Volkswagen had begun investigating the creation of its own budget brand. This came after having failed to purchase Malaysian car company Proton or produce a meaningful partnership with Suzuki, and after watching Renault-Nissan make piles of euro on Dacia and plot the return of Datsun.

For VW, more important than the question of what to call it was how to build it profitably and in a way that didnt damage the VW brand. According to a report in Autocar, a satisfactory answer still hasnt been found. The hurdle is how to hit "necessary quality and safety levels" at the price points needed to make the venture worthwhile. At the time of the 2012 report, German outlet Der Spiegel said VW was trying to get prices down to 6,000 to 8,000 euro ($7,784 to $10,379 US), about two thousand to four thousand euro under the price of the VW Up and in line with the cost of a 6,790-euro Dacia Sandero in Germany.

In March 2013, VW announced, "We want to bring a true budget car to the market in China in the foreseeable future," the most concrete move in that direction after years of planning to make a decision. Working with local Chinese maker FAW, it was predicted that the vehicle in question would appear around 2016, but as of November last year a final vote on it needed to wait until this year because "We are still working on the cost side" and profit possibilities for a car that "has to be durable, it has to be precise, it has to be safe."

Even Fiat, another automaker long considering a budget brand beneath its Fiat line-up, wasnt sure how to squeeze any extra money from lower-cost products but was sure that it couldnt be done by manufacturing in Europe. If VW hasnt yet made the math work with a joint venture in China, it will be interesting to see how it might build a European go-it-alone business case.

We know that Ford is positioning the new, upscale Vignale brand in Europe to fill a niche market of customers who want a bit more luxury, a lot more service and the same reliability and dependability that a non-Vignale Ford offers. But so far, weve been in the dark regarding how the Blue Oval will sell Vignale vehicles, how many of them will be created, and what the new sub-brand has in store for the future.

Gaetano Thorel, Fords European marketing head, recently was interviewed by Automotive News and shared details about Ford Vignale. Thorel says, "The Vignale trim line will be priced like an ST model but attract a completely different type of customer." Specifically, he says it will attract customers in the upper 15 percent of the price band who dont want a performance-oriented ST model. He adds that Vignale cars will be about 10 percent more expensive than Titanium-trim cars. About 500 of Fords European dealers will sell Vignale Fords, Thorel says, "in areas that make sense." The automaker expects 10 percent of its European sales to be Vignale cars, which equates to about 5 percent of its global sales. When asked if there are any other Vignale models planned beyond the Mondeo, Thorel said, "There is nothing written in stone yet."

Instead of tuning the engine, brakes and suspension for max performance, like Ford does with its ST line, a Vignale will grace occupants with luxurious attributes that are exclusive to the brand, "such as the unique chrome detailing, the exclusive leather-quilted seats and dashboard, a unique exterior color and all of Fords latest infotainment technologies," Thorel says.

But the material gains arent everything. Paying for a Vignale privileges customers with an encompassing, special ownership experience, which has been said to include free car washes for the life of the car. Thorel doesnt confirm the free car washes, unfortunately, but does say this "is in our plans." He goes on to say that a crucial part of owning a Vignale Ford is that customers will have a single dealership contact to help them deal with product and service needs.

European customers can start looking for the Mondeo VIgnale in participating dealerships when it launches in about 18 months.

Were almost ready to record Episode #387 of the Autoblog Podcast! You can check out the topics below, add your own to the Q&A and join us live via UStream, as well. Keep reading for our embedded UStream player, and thanks for listening!

Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #387

Review of 2009 VW Beetle

2009 VW Beetle Owners Manual

2009 VW Beetle Owners Manual

We dont have any new supercars to show you today. No new Teslas or SUVs. No new engines or technologies. No mergers, acquisitions or big hires. What we have to tell you about is the coolant automakers are putting into their vehicles. Which may not sound so exciting, but it could mean a big difference for automakers â€" and for the environment.

That coolant is called 1234yf. It has a higher cost than the R134a commonly used in most vehicles, yet government regulators and automakers are scrambling to adopt it. Why? Because it is more environmentally friendly, and the EPA is offering automakers valuable credits which can help them shore up against tightening efficiency standards.

The commonly used R134a coolant has a global warming factor of 1,430, meaning that it traps 1,430 times more heat if released into the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. 1234Yf, however, has a rating of 1, meaning that can be no more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Of course thats only if the chemical were released, and most of the time it stays trapped inside a closed system. But manufacturing and maintenance errors can cause it to escape.

Unfortunately the new 1234yf is ten times more expensive than the existing R134a, and requires manufacturers, dealers and repair shops to upgrade their equipment. Which is one reason that companies like Daimler are opposed to its use, proposing instead to use a carbon dioxide-based air conditioning system. But thats not the only reason Daimler is opposed to 1234yf.

The German automaker also conducted a study showing the new coolant to be more combustible and toxic than existing coolants. However further analysis by SAE International and by German environmental agency KBA refuted Daimlers findings, even suggesting that Daimler had rigged the study.

Currently Daimlers former partner Chrysler is among the leaders in implementing the use of 1234yf, injecting the coolant into the air-con systems on the new Jeep Cherokee, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger and Challenger, with the Dodge Dart and Ram 1500 set to follow. The Honda Fit EV, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, Cadillac XTS and Chevy Spark EV have also made the switch, but we can expect more to follow in the coming years.

Things appear to be going well inside Nissans autonomous vehicle development program. Until now, the automaker believed that self-driving cars would be ready for major markets like the US by 2020. However, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is now speeding up that prediction to 2018 in some places, assuming that local laws are ready to accept the computer-controlled vehicles.

"The problem isnt technology, its legislation, and the whole question of responsibility that goes with these cars moving around," said Ghosn in a speech in France recorded by Reuters. He predicted that the first sales could begin in France, Japan and the US by 2018 and expand elsewhere in 2020.

The alliance has been among the forefront of automakers working on self-driving cars. Nissan has an autonomous Leaf (pictured above) test car that is licensed to drive on Japanese roads. Renault showed off an version of its Zoe EV earlier this year called the Next Two, that could pilot itself at speeds up to 18 miles per hour, and that the company predicted would be ready by 2020.

Governments are still deciding how to treat the new technology, though. The California DMV just released a detailed list of rules governing autonomous vehicle testing on public roads. It seems astonishing that the nation could be just four years away from the first self-driving cars finding their way to consumers.