Volkswagen Group Malaysia has terminated VW Cars Sdn Bhd’s dealership of its vehicles with immediate effect.
 

Volkswagen dealerships operated by VW Cars at The Curve and Jalan 219, both in Petaling Jaya would cease immediately, the German carmaker said in a statement yesterday.
 

Its existing dealers in the country include Euromobil Sdn Bhd, Veemer Motor, Wearnes VW, Ismaco Automotive Sdn Bhd, Goh Brothers Motor Sdn Bhd.
 

In a separate announcement, VW Cars said it would stop the Volkswagen business due to an on-going dispute between the company and Volkswagen Group Malaysia. VW Cars, a unit of Cartrade Group and the first dealer appointed by Volkswagen Group Malaysia, contributes more than 50% of Volkswagen sales in the country.
 

Volkswagen’s Accessories arm has released a new line of products for VW Tiguan SUV. The range includes front and rear protective guards, and rocker panels with integrated steps. All parts are available in brushed aluminum look or in matte silver finish and can be combined with a new all-around aerodynamics package.

The aero pack includes a front and rear skirting, a roof spoiler and protective fender expansions while buyers can also choose from a variety of alloy wheel designs in sizes up to 19-inches.

Click here to view the VW Tiguan new styling accessories

DRB-Hicom Bhd’s negotiation with Volkswagen AG to assemble its cars in Malaysia is scrapped. From The Edge Weekly, the sources say talks between the two companies hit a brick wall following interference from certain government-linked bodies that forced the diversified group to cease discussions with VW.

According to DRB-Hicom officials, it is confirmed that there was difficulty in the negotiations, saying this occurred about three weeks ago but no further elaboration on the details. At Press time, DRB-Hicom did not clearly stating what are the government’s intentions were or why DRB-Hicom’s plan is scrapped off.

We believed that in recent months, Proton’s management has been leaning towards collaborating with a foreign partner on its operations in Malaysia and also with Lotus plc. It is not known if the scuttled talks have anything to do with Proton’s plan to getting a foreign strategic partner. Proton and VW have been engaged in talks on forming a strategic partnership and possible equity participation by VW since 2004 but no deal has materialised till date.

Volkswagen and Porsche announced today that they reached an agreement to merge their operations to create an integrated automotive group led by VW. Under the agreement, Volkswagen will buy a 42 percent stake in Porsche’s automotive unit by the end of 2009. The merger which will see the creation of a group with 10 brands, sales of around 6.4 million vehicles and more than 400,000 employees, will be achieved in several stages, and is expected to be completed by 2011.

Currently, Porsche SE holds a bit over 50 percent of Volkswagen’s common shares along with options for another 20 percent. Porsche will start off by negotiating to sell those options to the Emirate of Qatar for an undisclosed sum. Once that deal is done, Volkswagen will buy 42 percent of Porsche AG (the car making business) before the end of this year. Volkswagen will pay €3.3 billion for that stake.

VW will pay another €3.55 billion for Porsche Holding Salzburg, a trading company owned by the Porsche and Piech families. Ultimately, by the end of 2011 as Porsche SE reduces its debt load with all of this new cash, Volkswagen and Porsche will merge into a single company.

Since the new Mk-6 Volkswagen Golf GTI available for sale in Europe, many German tuning firm are readying to release many goodies to spices up the new GTI. Following ABT’s recently revealed sport package, MR Cardesign form Erftstadt is the latest German firm to apply its tuning knowledge on the Golf GTI VI. First up is an engine kit that includes an ECU upgrade which lifts output from 210HP and 280Nm of torque to a punchy 260HP and 380Nm.

The additional 50HP and 100Nm helps reduce the GTI’s 0 to 100km/h time from 6.9 seconds to 5.8 seconds while the hot hatchback’s top speed is increased from 240km/h to 263km/h.

In addition to powertrain upgrades, MR Cardesign offers a sport suspension from KW that lowers the car by 50mm up front and by 40mm at the back, along with a high performance brake system from Sportech and 19-inch alloy wheels shod in Vredestein tires size 225/35 R19. Customer may also opt for a more sonorous sport exhaust system.

Click here to view 9 photos of MR Cardesign VW Golf GTI VI

The tuning engineers at ABT Sportsline’s developed two performance kits for the new GTI with option of 260hp and 300hp.

For the first kit, ABT adding the usual ECU and exhaust system upgrades that lift output to 260 horsepower.

In addition to these enhancements, the second kit adds a new turbocharger that helps boost power to 300HP allowing the car to accelerate from rest to 100km/h in under 6.0 seconds. In comparison, the factory Golf GTI VI sprints from 0 to 100km/h in 7.2 seconds.

Helping to improve the GTI’s handling is a set of lower, stiffer springs plus a high-performance brake system and newly designed 18 or 19 inch alloys.

ABT also developed an appearance package for the GTI that takes the red pin stripe theme to a new level. The kit consists of a new grille, front bumper with LED daytime lights and a lip spoiler, side skirts, roof spoiler and a rear diffuser.

For interior dressing, ABT upgraded the GTI’s interior with red accents on the steering wheel, the instrument gauges the dashboard and the door trims.

There is no pricing indication for comprehensive sport package from ABT, however ABT mentioned that they will announced at a later date.

Click here to view 8 photos of ABT Sportline’s sixth-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI

The all-new 2010 Volkswagen Polo will officially go on sale in Germany on 26 June 2009, but the VW is reporting that it has already received more than 24,000 pre-orders of Polo. “The new Polo is the right car at the right time and provides an example for the automotive industry at a difficult time”, said Christian Klingler, Sales and Marketing Manager of VW.

In Europe it is offered with a comprehensive engine lineup that includes a new 1.2-liter turbocharged TSI petrol making 105HP and a 1.6-liter turbo diesel producing up to 90HP. Prices in Germany start from €12,150. I predicting on pattern of VW Malaysia importing new model, the 1.2-liter turbocharged TSI petrol should be arriving next year.

The International Engine of the Year Awards feature 11 Awards categories plus the coveted prize of International Engine of the Year.

The Engine of the Year award is handed out based on the voting results of 65 motor scribes polled from all around the globe. Some 32 countries are represented in the jury, including the U.S., Germany, Japan, China, the U.K., and Korea.

VW wins 2009 International Engine of the Year as the Volkswagen Group’s 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger gasoline engine has been named the grand winner at 2009 International Engine of the Year awards. This engine combines a turbocharger and supercharger in one compact unit. The result is power of up to 178bhp, but what’s most impressive is the engine’s specific power that attains 127.1bhp per litre of displacement. It is offered in a variety of cars including the VW Golf Variant, Scirocco, Eos, Jetta, Touran, Tiguan, Seat Ibiza Cupra.

Anyway, the German manufacturers dominated this year’s competition, winning 11 out of the 12 available awards. In the other categories, Porsche’s direct injection 3.8-liter flat-six was named Best New Engine of 2009 while Mercedes’ 6.2-liter V8 AMG unit won the Performance Engine of the Year as well as the Above 4-litre category.

Here’s a list of the rest of the award winners:
- Best New Engine – Porsche’s 3.8-liter 385bhp flat-six
- Green Engine of the Year – Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger 
- Best Performance Engine – Mercedes-AMG 6.2-liter V8
- Sub 1-liter – Toyota 1-liter three-cylinder
- 1.0-1.4L – Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger
- 1.4-1.8L – BMW-PSA 1.6-litre Turbo
- 1.8-2.0L – Audi 2-liter TFSI
- 2.0L-2.5L – Mercedes-Benz Diesel 2.1-litre BlueEfficiency
- 2.5L-3.9L – BMW 3-liter DI Twin Turbo
- 3.0L-4.0L – BMW 4-liter V8
- Above 4.0L – Mercedes-AMG 6.2-liter V8