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Volkswagen’s U.S. factory cheers the first grads from its on-site high school
Imagine as a high school student studying Chaucer in one period, and then walking a few steps to program a state-of-the-art welding robot or 3D printer. That’s a glimpse of what a school day is like at the high school held on the grounds of Volkswagen’s Chattanooga factory. Volkswagen Chattanooga, Chattanooga State Community College and Hamilton County Schools recently celebrated the first graduating class from the Mechatronics Akademie, a two-year mechatronics program at Volkswagen Chatt
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Driving the first-generation Volkswagen Jetta with its 2019 successor
The 1980 model year was a big one for Volkswagen of America. Known at the time mostly for the Rabbit hatchback, VW brought out four new models that year – the Rabbit convertible, the Rabbit-based Pickup, the then-new Vanagon (including its hip camper variant) and an all-new sedan named after the German word for “jet stream:” the Jetta. It was not many years later that the Jetta became the best-selling German model in America, with more than 3.2 million models sold since. With the new 2019 Jet
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Unleashing the Rrrrr-roar of the Golf Rs at WITW
For one weekend in April each year, the small village of Fontana, North Carolina, hosts a gathering of Volkswagen friends and owners casually known as WITW. What ties these cars together, apart from the VW badge, is that their engines all produce a beloved exhaust note. This year I joined over 100 of these special cars for some fun, both in the village and on the famous roads that surround it. The Golf R32 and Golf R cars have been a staple in the VW enthusiast community ever since the first
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Meet the sausage that’s one of Volkswagen’s most popular products
In the official Volkswagen parts list, it's item no. 199 398 500 A -- one of the world’s most unique sausages, and a Volkswagen original celebrating its 45th year of production. First created in 1973, Volkswagen has made its own currywurst sausage ever since, and in the process turned it into a symbol of the company throughout Europe. While it’s a staple of the factory cafeterias in Wolfsburg and other European Volkswagen plants for breakfast or lunch, it’s also sold in grocery stores und
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Why VW’s first electric race car previews the future of EVs
Last week, Volkswagen Motorsport revealed the first all-electric race car in the company’s history. Built with the goal of setting a new record for the race up Pikes Peak in June, the I.D. R Pikes Peak combines cutting-edge motorsports engineering with Volkswagen’s growing expertise in electric mobility. And while the custom-built race car was designed for one purpose, it also previews the technology that will help make electric vehicles a more mainstream reality. Pikes Peak ranks as the wor
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A designer’s look at the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta
How do you design a new car? Boldly, and carefully, at the same time. The new 2019 Volkswagen Jetta reflects years of exacting design work by a dedicated team that had to anticipate American market trends, meet a host of engineering requirements and eventually craft a look that can appeal to millions without going stale. “Cars are always reflecting society, fashion, architecture—they are part of the development of mankind,” says Klaus Bischoff, head of design for Volkswagen. “From the begi
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How the Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak concept pickup came to life
The idea was simple – “build a modern Volkswagen pickup truck” – but the execution was anything but. The Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak concept vehicle unveiled at the New York International Auto Show reflects months of work by dozens of VW designers and engineers to build something that has not existed before; a real mid-size pickup, designed for American tastes, from the highly flexible platform architectures of the Volkswagen Group. The result was the hit of the show, precisely because it mix
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9 Things You Didn’t Know About the All-New Arteon
The camera flashes popped and the crowd “oohed” and “aahed” when Volkswagen unveiled the 2019 Volkswagen Arteon in February at the Chicago Auto Show. Two fastback sedans, in metallic red and yellow, rotated on the stage, and although the iconic VW logo adorned both trunks and hoods, the cars were unlike any Volkswagen vehicles attendees had ever seen. That was by design. With the Arteon, Volkswagen set out to establish a new design direction for the future, providing a glimpse of the next
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Talking Tech: Driver Assistance Features Offer a Helping Hand
Subtle sensory cues belie a complex interaction of systems in Lane Assist and Blind Spot Monitor to help you help your car stay in control. When you lose focus for just a split second when driving, it can lead to an unintentional lane drift. Helping keep you in your lane with your focus on the road is one of the reasons VW designers and engineers created the Driver Assistance technologies like available Lane Assist and Blind Spot Monitor. But here’s what most people don’t realize: That tech
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The Atlas Tanoak asks: Should VW build a pickup for America again?
Once upon a time, Volkswagen assembled and sold pickups in America. Branded simply as the “VW Pickup,” known elsewhere around the world as the Volkswagen Caddy, the Rabbit derivative assembled in Pennsylvania was the brainchild of American executives in an era where front-wheel-drive trucks were popular due to high gas prices. After selling 77,513 models between 1979 and 1985, VW left the U.S. pickup market to others. Today, we ask: What might happen if Volkswagen brought a pickup back to the
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VW’s electric I.D. aims for the pinnacle with R Pikes Peak
After a 34-year absence, Volkswagen will return to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb this June with the I.D. R Pikes Peak – an all-electric race car designed with the goal of setting a new record for one of the world’s toughest motorsports events. Designed as a showcase of the technology behind Volkswagen’s upcoming I.D. production electric cars, the R Pikes Peak will race up the mountain on June 24th with three-time Pikes Peak champion Romain Dumas at the wheel. “The I.D. R Pikes Pe
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From hands on to hands off, how autonomy will become reality
With the I.D. Vizzion concept car revealed at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen offered a look at what the self-driving car of 2030 might look like. But how, exactly, will we get to the future of vehicles without steering wheels or pedals? It’s been a long-standing source of debate around the auto industry, which has adopted five levels of autonomy to group these types of vehicles. Here’s our guide to how those five levels will mark the changes to come:
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VW supports John F. Kennedy Center’s VSA Emerging Young Artists Program
Every fall, employees working at Volkswagen Group of American (VWGoA) headquarters in Herndon, Va., enjoy a more colorful, creative and vibrant view on their way in and out of the office. This is because Volkswagen supports VSA, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ international organization on arts and disability. Since 2002, VWGoA has supported the VSA Emerging Young Artists Program, a Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program, recognizing talented young artists with
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#TBT: 1987 Volkswagen Golf Twin-Engine Pikes Peak car
No motorsports event carries quite the challenge or history of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. First completed in 1916, and run nearly every year since, Pikes Peak has become synonymous with masterful drivers and brutal machines able to speed up the 12-mile, 156-curve route, where one mistake can lead to a dangerous lesson in gravity. In the 1980s, Pikes Peak was the second home of the Group B rally cars – turbocharged monsters of road and gravel rallying. And it was a top target for
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The New 2018 Volkswagen Passat GT, an American-born Sport Sedan
Like all good cars, the 2018 Volkswagen Passat GT began with an idea and a few people in a garage. That garage happens to be in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at Volkswagen’s growing North American Engineering Planning Center, just around the corner from the factory that assembles the Passat and the VW Atlas. The idea: How to bring a touch of Volkswagen’s performance heritage into midsize sedans. The resulting 2018 Passat GT is scheduled to arrive later this year as the first model developed and
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Innovating the Future at VW’s Electronics Research Lab
Located in Silicon Valley, Volkswagen Group’s Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) is the epicenter of the company’s vehicle electronics expertise in North America and its largest research facility outside of Germany. More than 160 ERL engineers, social scientists, researchers, product designers, and psychologists work with teams across the globe to develop technologies for future generations of vehicles. From autonomous driving to connected mobility, the high-tech lab is charged with creati
read moreCelebrating diversity is in VW’s roadmap
To help mark LGBT Month in October, Volkswagen had the privilege of supporting the 2017 Out & Equal Workplace Summit in Philadelphia, an annual conference for the LGBT and ally community to share best practices and strategies for an inclusive, equal workplace. “We have been a proud sponsor of the Out & Equal Workplace Summit, an annual meeting that brings together corporate and industry leaders to discuss and advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, for over 10 years
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