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The 2001 VW Microbus concept was really cool; so much so that it looked like it was headed for 2005 production. Then the project started getting expensive at the same time the U.S. dollar began to hit the skids. So, then-boss Bernd Pischetsrieder swung the axe, and it was curtains for the retro breadbox. Fast-forward to the present. Instead of a spiffy new Microbus, we now have the Routan, which is fake German for “Dodge Caravan.” Not very exciting, to say the least.

A revival of Flower Power’s official vehicle seemed hopeless — until now. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that VW’s entertaining the possibility of a 21st-century Microbus built on the same platform as the new sedan that’ll pe produced at VW’s Chattanooga, TN facility. An unnamed “senior Volkswagen official” told the paper that European production’s basically a non-starter, and Volkswagen Group of America’s Jill Bratina played it coy, saying only that a second vehicle line out of Chattanooga is “conceivable in the foreseeable future.” A locally-built, car-based Microbus is an idea that certainly piques our interest. How about yours?

(Oh, and by the way, should you ever decide to move to Brazil, you can still kick it old-school down there in the meantime.)

The rendering specialists at AutoBild have come up with images of the next Passat. It gets a bit more character in the twin swage lines running down the side of the body, a feature that is looking like the next big design thing. The front end continues the tripartite bumper design VW has recently taken up, but swaps the giant headlamps for some sleek, stylized numbers reminiscent of Audi.

We aren’t sure about the sedan design. It looks like it could be a contender with character… or it could be a sedan just trying to be fancy. The wagon, however, looks pretty sexy. We’ll know when we see it in the flesh, but the Passat CC is probably a good indicator in the mean time, so if you like that, then you’ll probably like this.

[Source: AutoBild via German Car Blog]

It’s far too early to come up with suitable jokes to make, so we’ll just give you the facts. According to Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine, Police are investigating a case of corporate eavesdropping in the form of a baby monitor that was found in the hotel room of Porsche CEO, Wendelin Wiedeking. Wiedeking was in Wolfsburg, Germany visiting Volkswagen headquarters for a board meeting when a security firm found the monitor behind a sofa in the CEO’s room. An investigation is underway, however, it deserves noting that the alleged spying took place in November of last year and that Der Spiegel isn’t citing any specific sources for their story.

[Source: Forbes]

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The so-called “VW law” was struck down by the European Court last October. Previous to that, the state of Lower Saxony was able to veto any Volkswagen shareholder action it didn’t like. When the law was struck down it looked like the Lower Saxony had no choice but to watch Porsche, which had been circling shark-like around Volkswagen for a bit, decide on the day it chose to take majority control of the much larger company.

But Lower Saxony had a much bigger shark on its side in the form of the government in Berlin. Politicos in the German capital have been drafting a law that would “replace” the “Volkswagen law” and put Lower Saxony, with its 20.1-percent holding in VW, back in effective control of the company. The law still has hurdles to overcome, such as approval by the German parliament and then approval by the EU. Frankly, we don’t see how the EU could approve the law if it artificially inflates the state’s position over that of a shareholder. Porsche is going to wait for the law, and elections in Lower Saxony, to run their courses before proceeding with its efforts to take a majority stake. Der Saga continues.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

The honchos at VW decided that Park Assist (PA) wasn’t enough. That’s where the car parallel parks itself while you twiddle your thumbs behind the wheel, and when the Fasten Seat Belt sign is extinguished you can get out and go on about your business. The latest development from VW is called Park Assist Vision (PAV), and it will park the car for you in any kind of spot — parallel or perpendicular — and you don’t even need to be in the car.

A PAV-equipped car is ringed with cameras and ultrasonic sensors, and when you find a spot you want, you select it on a touchscreen. You place the car in “P” and get out if you have that much faith in technology not to scratch your paint. Your remote control keyfob tells the car what to do from then on, and the car parks itself, shuts down and locks itself up, as any happy android car should.

PAV is still in development, but it’s a neat idea. It could especially come in handy when trying to slip into one of those ever-shrinking “compact” parking spaces, since it’s so hard to get out of the car once you get in the space. Now if they could develop a feature that actually locates available parking spaces for you, we’d be in business.

[Source: Autocar]

Volkswagen announced today that its entire 2009 lineup will come with a new Carefree Maintenance Program standard. What this means is that all scheduled maintenance for your 2009 Vee-Dub will be done and paid for by Volkswagen for the length of your limited warranty, which is 3 years or 36,000 miles. The program will debut with the new Tiguan crossover and Routan minivan, and should come in handy considering the former requires at least three scheduled service stops for maintenance before it hits 36,000 miles and the latter requires six. Other automakers like BMW and VW’s own sister brand Audi offer free scheduled maintenance programs as well, but this is the first time we’ve seen it offered to folks who aren’t buying a luxury car. Would free scheduled maintenance lure you into a VW dealership when shopping for a new car or is this program required by the German automaker to improve its perception of quality in the U.S.? Check out VW’s official press release on the new program after the jump for more details.

[Source: VW]

Volkswagen will use the 24-hour endurance race at the Nurburgring in Germany to showcase the new Scirocco’s sporting credentials when the event gets underway the weekend of May 24 and 25. The race-prepped version of the low-slung, Golf-based coupe will be spitting out 300 hp from its tuned 2.0-liter TFSI engine. Volkswagen didn’t reveal a lot of details about the Scirocco racer in its press release (after the jump), but you can be assured that serious suspension and brake tweaks will be accompanied by all the prerequisite safety equipment to make the Scirocco competitive in the 2.0-liter turbo class. And VW isn’t skimping on drivers, either. The Scirocco will be piloted by two-time WRC champ Carlos Sainz and two-time Le Mans winner and ‘Ring legend, Hans-Joachim Stuck.

[Source: VW via WCF]

Volkswagen has apparently seen the same gap in its SUV lineup that we did when the Tiguan was introduced. According to Autocar, the Germans are working on a mid-sizer that would slot between the large Touareg2 and the smaller Tiguan, but have seating for seven.

Autocar says VW does not plan to base the vehicle on Audi’s Q5 platform or a stretched Tiguan. Instead the company is expected to utilize the much cheaper, next-generation Passat, which itself shares numerous parts with the next Golf. Sources say the larger SUV is planned for a 2011 intro with possible Skoda and Seat variants.

Anyone want to take a guess at what obscure nomadic tribe this one will be named after? Wikipedia lists at least two that begin with “T” that haven’t been used yet. There are the Toubou of Chad, but that’s a bit too easily pronounced. Our money’s on the Dutch Trekboers, as in “How much do you think the new VW Trekboer will cost?”

[Source: Autocar]