Redesigning retro is a herculean task. You need to change the vehicle enough to be worth the effort, meanwhile maintaining an iconic retro theme. If you don’t change enough, shoppers won’t see a reason to trade in their old flashback for the new time capsule. Change it too much and you’re left with a caricature. The task is so daunting that few even attempt it. (Just look at the one-hit-wonders: PT Cruiser, HHR, SSR and Thunderbird.) VW on the other hand is different. After all they continued to build and sell the same Beetle with minor tweaks for 65 years straight. If anyone can tweak retro and convince people they need it, it’s VW. Sure enough, 2012 was the best Beetle sales year since 1973. As a chaser to VW’s revived retro-mojo, the Beetle is now offered sans-top and VW tossed us the keys to a brown-on-brown model for a week so we could get our 70s on. Can you dig it?

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Bad omen for Europe: The German car market, considered one of the healthier in Europe, was down 10.5 percent in February, compared to the same month in the prior year. News from other European volume markets are worse. (Read More…)

Think of it as a merger of the equally sick: PSA’s automotive division (Peugeot Citroen) and Opel could be put into one company, a joint venture between GM and PSA, La Tribune reports with Reuters providing the translation. (Read More…)

There was a time when “Passat” was German for “budget-Audi.” Even though the A4 and Passat parted ways in 2005, the Passat’s interior and price tag were more premium than mid-market shoppers were looking for. To hit VW’s North American yearly sales goal of 800,o000, the European Passat (B6) was replaced with a model designed specifically for American tastes. This means a lower price tag, less “premium” interior, and larger dimensions. If your heart pines for a “real” Passat, look no further than the 2013 Volkswagen CC. If it looks familiar, it should. The CC is none other than the artist car formerly known as Prince Passat CC with a nose job. VW advertises the CC as “the most affordable four-door coupé” in the US. All you need to know is: Euro lovers, this is your Passat.

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David writes:

I know that European vehicle snobbism is often frowned upon here, but I do love the look and feel of German cars better than any other. The downside seems to be maintenance costs, that they are simply not affordable to own.

I’m going to be looking for a car in about the $20-25k range, so my choice is between pretty dull new Japanese cars and a circa 2008 BMW 328i or Mercedes C300. Both of them seems to be really attractive cars, but of course the enthusiast crown always goes to the BMW.

What I’m wondering is if the Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) program might be the answer. I’m sure most of you already know this, but the general idea is that they inspect and recondition low mileage used cars, give them a comprehensive warranty and basically treat them like almost new vehicles. The Mercedes program is the best known, but BMW appears to be coming on strong with an offer of five years free maintenance. On paper that should mean nearly cost-free ownership save brakes and other wear items.

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Volkswagen was all grins when litigating hedgies lost the first round in court in the U.S. (it’s on appeal) and when the public prosecutor in Stuttgart dropped some of the  investigation into former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and former CFO Holger Härter (only to add new angles.)  Until the matters are cleared, Volkswagen and Porsche officially are not married, unofficially, they share all available beds.

Now, a new lawsuit causes frozen faces and acid reflux at the very top of Volkswagen: German investment funds intend to involve prominent supervisory board members of Volkswagen AG in a billion dollar court case. (Read More…)