Volkswagen Scirocco News

The gas-fired Sciroccos which competed successfully in the Nurburgring 24-hour race are powered by a 243kW/400Nm 1.9-litre turbocharged engine.VW spokesman Martin Hube believes motorsport should be looking at more alternate fuels with the 24-hour race featuring several diesel and hybrids models."We have a responsibility as a company to the environment, even in motorsport," he says."This shows the customer that you don't have to fear technology like CNG; it's clean and safe."VW has CNG-powered Passat and Tiguan street models, but don't expect to see any in Australia.Gehling says our CNG infrastructure network is not comprehensive enough. "We would much prefer LPG, because of the existing network," he says.VW makes LPG-powered models such as Golf and Caddy but only in left-hand drive. "It's a chicken-and-egg situation," Gehling says."You don't make it (right-hand-drive LPG models) unless there is demand and there is no demand because they aren't available."

…in the grueling Nurburgring 24-hour race, in Germany last weekend. (JUNE 25/26)Two VW Sciroccos finished first and second in class with the lead car driven by Dakar champions Nasser Al-Attiyah, Carlos Sainz and Giniel de Villiers, finishing a commendable 27th outright.VW Motorsport spokesman Andre Dietzel says the Scirocco ran "like clockwork"."The Scirocco race cars are real close to the standard car with its suspension, steering and transmission," he says.However, the endurance racing Sciroccos are powered by compressed natural gas."It shows what the technology is capable of, like Dakar and Le Mans showed the potential of the TDI technology," says Dietzel.However, he rejected reports that the racing Sciroccos will be coming to Australia to compete in our Bathurst 12-hour race."The cars are built to the specification for this race only, not international," says Dietzel.The road-going Scirocco will debut at the Melbourne Motor Show and hit the showrooms early in 2012.VW Group Australia spokesman Karl Gehling says we will only get the Scirocco R while the three-door Golf R will be discontinued. He says the Scirocco will sit between the Golf GTI ($40,490) and Golf R ($48,490-$49,990) and will be the first R model in two-wheel drive.The Scirocco R will be powered by a detuned version of the Audi S3 and Golf R two-litre turbo engines with 188kW of power and 330Nm of torque.It will come in front-wheel drive with the Extended Electronic Differential Lock from the Golf GTI and Adaptive Chassis Control featuring three mode settings.Meanwhile, the three Golf24 race cars prepared for the Nurburgring race did not finish due to mechanical issues.Dietzel says the result is "a bit disappointing"."However, people were enthusiastic about the car," he says."The car was completely new and this was just testing and a promotion for the 35th anniversary of the Golf GTI."The Golf24, however, runs a 330kW/540Nm 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo engine, not the GTI's 155kW/280Nm two-litre, four-cylinder turbo engine.Dietzel says they are not committed to returning to Nurburgring next year.

After more than two years of hopes and promises, VW Australia tells Carsguide the sleek Scirocco will hit showrooms in 2012. "Finally, it's happening. The Scirocco will be here in 2012," says Anke Koeckler, who took over the top job at VW Australia in July 2009. "It's been my ambition to bring Scirocco to Australia since I arrived, Australians will get their first chance to see the Scirocco in the metal at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne in July. The good news also gets better as Koeckler tells CarsGuide that VW will bring the Scirocco in the faster R spec only. Exact equipment levels and pricing are still being finalised, but  Carsguide understands specification will be similar to that of the Golf R, and the Scirocco could carry a price tag as low as $50,000. Australian fans of VW hot hatches have been crying out for the re-born Scirocco - a badge first seen in the 1970s - since it first launched in Europe in 2009. "We have received a lot of requests for the Scirocco, so it's great to now be able to do it," Koeckler says. She says the challenge has been finding a way to fit it alongside the Golf range, one of VW's core models in Australia. The Scirocco shares its basic mechanical structure with the Golf, but  has unique and more visually aggressive bodywork. It is 67mm lower,  35mm wider and 36mm longer than the Golf three-door, is 67kg lighter  than the all-wheel drive Golf R, and has a sportier suspension tune,  all of which is said to endow it with more performance-oriented  driving characteristics. In Europe, the Scirocco is available with a range of petrol and diesel engines, but VW Australia has only ever been interested in the GTi and R models, which share their 155kW and 199kW 2.0-litre, turbocharged  four-cylinder engines with similarly-badged Golf models. One crucial area of difference is the way the Scirocco R and Golf R  get their power down - the Golf R is all-wheel drive, the Scirocco R  is only front-wheel drive. While the Scirocco R has a green light for Australia, making a case  for the GTi was too hard. "The Golf GTI is a very successful model for us, and it did not make  sense to bring Scirocco GTI into that same space. As it was we had to make changes to the Golf R range to bring Scirocco in," Koeckler says. So Volkswagen is dropping the three-door Golf R model from its Australian range to make room for the three-door Scirocco R. VW is expected to sell the Scirocco R with a choice of six-speed manual and DSG automatic transmissions in Australia. Carsguide is unsure if the Scirocco R's turbocharged, four-cylinder  engine will be detuned from 195kW to 188kW for Australia, as is done  with the Golf R under a Volkswagen program to de-tune some engines for  hot-weather and 'extreme' countries.

The sales peak was previously hit in 1963, when the company sold around 32,000 vehicles - mostly Beetles with some Kombis. Volkswagen Australia's spokesman Karl Gehling says the brand was on target for a tally of close to 40,000 well before the end of the year. "We are going to achieve a record for Australia, as of this month (October) we have overtaken our previous record of around 32,000 with a couple of months to go. "We'll wait and see, I won't put a number on it," he says. While the 2010 number will be looking good for the German brand, the 2011 calendar has nine new or refreshed models turning up in VW dealerships, including the new Amarok light-commercial, the Touareg SUV, Passat sedan and wagon, the updated Eos convertible and the new Jetta. The Golf range will grow to include the frugal BlueMotion model early next year, but the BlueMotion catalogue could be expanded if the company sees demand for the frugal Passat BlueMotion passenger sedan. The model recently set a world record for covering more than 2400km on one tank of fuel, but the Australian arm of the German car maker has no immediate plans for Passat BlueMotion in Australia. What is coming is a new version of the Passat CC – and don't discount another Passat R model. Hanno Greuner, part of technical section of Project Management Team, says the R line is not yet extinct … "there will be something" … and there are highlights in the pipeline. "We have an R for the Golf, Scirocco … and I think the R is a perfect match for Passat." "Increased engine size can sometimes make it difficult to satisfy exhaust emission standards, I think it will be possible to use a smaller and more powerful engine, and more fuel efficient," he says. The evolution of the Golf R, from a V6 to a higher-boost turbo four, points to a smaller-capacity R-Series Passat with higher outputs and better economy and emissions. "I suspect we will get more downsizing in capacity and upsizing in power output," he says. Herr Greuner says the next Passat CC will follow the new family DNA styling sequence. "There is a VW design language and the next CC will speak that same language," he says, refusing to elaborate further.

The German vehicle manufacturer will bring a petrol-electric version of the medium sedan to the market in 2012, using the 1.2-litre twin-charger direct-injection petrol engine, according to product communications manager Christian Buhlmann. "In the US hybrids play a big part, and as of 2012 we will also have a hybrid here in the US,” he says.  “At Detroit we showed the Jetta Coupe concept… that's still under evaluation to see if there's a market for a third version. We have shown the 1.2TSI twin-charged engine in combination with an electric engine and a seven-speed DSG." "By doing this we can fulfil our goals here for a growth strategy, North America is the only market where we don't have double-digit market share and we are going to change that.  "We are market leader in China and Europe, South America - it is our goal to become the number one in the world market by 2018, which would mean for the US 800,000 Volkswagens per year, we had 213,000 here last year so we have a long way to go, the Jetta is going to help us." "We are currently evaluating which markets it might be most interesting for," he says.  The German marque believes the hybrid is a volume proposition only in the US market –where the Jetta represents almost half its passenger car sales. Volkswagen has lofty volume targets, with aims to more than triple its current North American volumes to around 800,000.  With a new billion-dollar factory in North America (Chattanooga, Tennessee), as well as its existing plant in Puebla, Mexico that currently builds Jetta, the VW product plan also includes a mid-sized model above the new Jetta (to be unveiled at Detroit next year), again only for North America and not a re-badged Passat, says Buhlmann. The Jetta will also be built in China but Buhlmann says it will only be for domestic Chinese sale, not for export to other markets, which will continue to receive its Jetta vehicles from Mexico.  The efficient direct-injection petrol and turbodiesel engines are vital to the brand's expansion, with the uptake of turbodiesel passenger vehicles exceeding the supply. Volkswagen says a quarter of the Jetta, Jetta Sport, Touareg and Golf orders are for the new cleaner and quieter diesel powerplants, which has warranted the company's plans to build engines in North America. Australia remains a petrol and diesel market for Volkswagen, says spokesman Karl Gehling.  "At this stage we have no plans to introduce any hybrids in Australia, we're sticking with the diesels because they've been very successful in Australia," he says. VW Australia's diesel sales overall are around 50 per cent - although the Touareg SUV sells more than 90 per cent diesel - but the company's top-selling Golf has had a shift back in favour of petrol. "Diesel take-up is about 50 per cent overall, with Touareg it is 95 per cent, but we've noticed with Golf, which is our biggest selling and the new TSI there's been a shift back towards petrol because of the significantly improved fuel consumption of the TSI," he says "It's more about what genuine hybrid sales are, outside of the fleet market, it probably doesn't make sense to add the additional variant at the moment, but that may change - it all depends on fuel prices and a whole range of other factors. Gehling is also reluctant to nominate a sales increase expectation with the new Jetta.  "We would look to see an increase in sales, but we don't comment on sales figures." "The new model will reflect the current range, there will be a similar number of petrol or diesel, there are no plans for a GTI or an R variant, it's not that style of car in most markets, we have the 147kW car, the US gets a sporty-styled variant, but we think we have our market covered with our current range," he says. The company's also coy on the future of Scirocco in Australia for similar reasons - there's a desire to get the vehicle to local show rooms but with a sales clash with the Golf GTI among the concerns its future remains uncertain.

So when the controversial host announced he had prepared his own spoof ad for the launch of the new Volkswagon Scirocco, the BBC prepared for the worst.

The two-door Golf-based coupe has a dream for VW fans for more than a year but there is still no chance of it happening. "We would love to have it here, but it isn't on our plan. In the short term, at least," Gehling says. The problems for the Scirocco are its price, the likelihood of small sales and a potential clash with the Golf GTi. Volkswagen also believes there is no point to a limited-edition R-Line Scirocco if it is not selling the regular car. "The R Line is very much the halo of each model line, and you expect that to have a flow-on effect. But if you don't have the whole range there is not a huge amount of point to doing it," Gehling says. "We may review it again in the future, but at the moment there is no plan."                

But it is still not confirmed for Australia. Even with the showroom rollout beginning in Europe, Volkswagen Group Australia chief Jutta Dierks says she is waiting for the right price and position before she pushes the button on a local sales plan for the Scirocco.The German coupe dominated its class in the gruelling Nurburgring 24-hour race in May.Volkswagen is concerned the car could steal sales from the Golf GTi or convertible EOS if it is not set on the right path from day one.“It's a serious matter and we will take the time we need,” says Dierks. “We have to get an agreement from Germany on the position of the car in the Australian market.”Discussions on the 2.0-litre Scirocco coupe began more than six months ago and there is no news yet on a cut-off date.The Golf-based Scirocco has been revived as Volkswagen's sports coupe and has been a sellout since it went on sale in Europe. Dierks says the car's appeal is obvious.“It's about emotion,” she says. “It's a car that's unusual for a premium volume brand. For some people it is a dream car, for others the Scirocco makes it possible to drive a sports car.“Cars like this bring emotion to the brand. It is outside the normal mass volume that people associate with Volksagen.“There is nothing negative about having the same car as your neighbour, but some people want something different.”The final decision could be some months away — but in the final wash-up, it's all about money.“It's the price,” Dierks says. “We want it in the right position against the Golf GTi and EOS. We don't have any market in Europe where the GTi is 25 per cent of the Golf sales but it is in Australia. We need to find where to position the Scirocco.”Despite the uncertainty and the length of negotiations, Dierks wants the Scirocco here.“I'm keen to get the car. It is not a volume model, but there is a lot of Volkswagen history involved. It will fit in our range and there is a good story to tell. But we have a lot of good products at the moment, so we don't have to rush.”Volkswagen held its ground in 10th place through the first half of this year's new-car sales race, but Dierks says the company is not racing to move up the rankings.“It's not about being No.10 or 9, but growing the volume and everything else,” she says.“Besides, the gap is still huge. And we cannot do it too fast. We need to get things set right.”Golf is still the brand's big seller, but Volkswagen is also getting a boost from the compact Tiguan four-wheel-drive.Dierks says the biggest sales success this year is the four-wheel-drive Touareg.“What really makes me happy for the first six months is the Touareg,” she says. “Finally we have found our place. The target was to sell 100 a month and we are doing that. It is very good to see we are selling 140 a month.“The winner is Golf. We continue to grow it ... and also the EOS.“The whole range is obviously selling quite well and now we have delivered some Tiguans, but we only have 750.”The waiting list for the Tiguan has blown out to almost 12 months. VW had the same problem when it launched Golf GTi three years ago.Though there is no official waiting list, several dealers report delays of nine to 12 months for cars ordered now. Even those who have already ordered the car have had an extra three months added to delivery delay.But Volkswagen spokesman Karl Gehling says the problem is not limited to Australia.“It's simply to do with demand exceeding supply,” Gehling says. “And that's the case in every market.”Australia has 750 Tiguans allocated to it for the first year, and Gehling says it can't source extras.“The factory is working at capacity,” he says. “We're getting as many as we can.”Though it may seem like a good problem to have, Volkswagen will need to be careful to avoid losing too many potential Tiguan customers to rival brands.Nissan, hot on the heals of the Tiguan, is adding a turbodiesel to the X-Trail range that competes against the VW. But Gehling is confident Volkswagen won't be affected too badly while waiting for more cars to arrive.“Obviously it's always a concern, but we're trying to get as many cars as we can,” he says.Though the waiting list is long for specially ordered cars, several dealers Carsguide spoke to had a limited number of examples on the lot. 

It would be a case of deja-vu for Aussies because the original Scirocco was never released here either.