Argentina's Industry Ministry signed an agreement with Porsche importer Grupo Pulenta according to which, the company will have to offset all car imports with equivalent exports of wine and olives.
The deal complies with local regulations that allow companies to import cars for sale only if they export goods of the same value. Grupo Pulenta, which aims to import 100 vehicles worth around $8 million this year, will therefore have to export wine and olive products to 18 countries, including the U.S. and neighboring Brazil.
The agreement comes two weeks after Volkswagen signed a deal with the Argentine government to increase exports from VW's Cordoba plant by 77 percent in 2011, so that the deficit between the company's exports and imports will drop around 70 percent.
Automobile sales in Argentina rose 43 percent in 2010 to a record 698,299 units, according to the country's Automobile Manufacturers Association. Out of these, 435,767 units were imported. Exports from Argentina's car industry reached 447,953 units last year.
VW has released the first aftermarket accessories for its facelifted Eos coupe-cabriolet in the form of new aerodynamic, styling and practical accessories. In particular, VW proposes a tailgate spoiler, stainless steel muffler tips and a rear protection bar finished in high-gloss chrome. The spoiler is applied directly to the bootlid and promises to improve the car’s aerodynamics at high speeds
The chrome bar gives the Eos an extra “bling” factor, while also protecting the edge of the tailgate. It simply sticks to the lower rim of the tailgate, without damaging it in any way. Rounding off the exterior styling propositions is a new 17-inch alloy wheel design called “Azuro”, which is painted in silver and has five double spokes.
For the car's interior, VW Accessories offers three different trim sets, each consisting of five decorative pieces that apply to the doors and the dashboard. Available colors include carbon, aluminum and piano.
Cycling fans can order a bicycle rack that can transport up to two bikes, with an extension kit for a third one available. Finally, Volkswagen has developed a special luggage set for the Eos, made up of two branded suitcases.
The updated Eos was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late November 2010, featuring new headlights and grille, revised bumpers, redesigned taillights and an upgraded equipment list.
Volkswagen has announced a voluntary recall for its 2011 model year Jetta sedan in the USA due to a defect in the wiring system controlling the anti-theft alarm system and horn. The German company said that in some instances an electric short in the horn could, which in turn could cause the engine to stall, adding that no injuries or accidents have been reported as a result of this problem.
The recall affects sixth generation Jetta sedan vehicles built between March of 2010 and March of 2011. According to the company, a total of 71,043 cars are affected by the recall. VW will notify owners by mail.
If the Volkswagen Scirocco coupe doesn’t look wild enough for your taste, you may want to take a look at CSR Automotive’s aesthetic treatment. The exterior mods include a new honeycomb lower grille in a matte black finish, a front apron, headlamp trims, side skirts and a rear apron with a diffuser that houses the new exhaust outlets. There’s also a rear spoiler and a matte black foil wrap in a carbon fiber look that partially covers the hood and the roof, as well as the exterior mirrors.
To complete the package, CSR Automotive adds a new set of funky-looking 20-inch alloy wheels with carbon-look parts shod in Toyo tires size 235/30 ZR20 up front and 285/25 ZR20 at the back.
If there’s one car that has withstood the test of time, that’s the original Volkswagen Beetle. And even though more than 21 million Bugs were built between 1938 and 2003, it’s not often that you stumble upon a pristine example with only delivery mileage on the odometer.
The one you see pictured above is a 1978 Beetle Jubilee with a mere 40 miles on the clock that has never been registered. It’s up for sale by UK-based CVA Auctions.
"It is a 1200cc silver Jubilee model with a silver plaque stating it's car number 214 of the last 300,” CVA Auctions boss Jim Ronan told uk.Autoblog. “It is in great condition as you would expect and we have all the relevant documentation should someone wish to put it on the road."
The auction house’s boss said that buyers from all over the world were interested in the car.
"I think it will go to a serious collector or maybe even a museum. In my opinion, registering it would devalue it. I'm really not sure what it will go for," he added.
Volkswagen celebrates this year the 40th anniversary of the SP coupe, a car relatively unknown outside Brazil, its country of origin. Built by the company's Brazilian subsidiary in the '70s, the attractive coupe has an interesting story. In 1968 Rudolf Leiding, former CEO of Audi NSU, was appointed director of VW do Brasil, a job he accepted under one condition: to have the permission of building models adapted for the Brazilian market.
In the 1970's auto imports were blocked in South America's largest market, so Leiding thought about building a two-seat sports coupe that he believed would be successful.
Together with ‘Karmann-Ghia do Brasil’, which at the time was building the already dated Karmann Ghia coupe, Volkswagen Brazil started developing a new coupe, which had to use as many parts as possible from VW's local model range in order to keep costs low.
The team used the platform of the VW 1600, the Brazilian version of the Type 3 (forefather of the Passat). Engineers took the chassis, axles and the engine, while the steel body was developed from scratch. The SP also used the twin headlights of the 1600. The 54HP 1.6-liter engine that equipped the test prototype car proved itself inappropriate for a sports car so VW decided to offer this unit in a basic version called SP-1.
There were jokes that the SP name stood for "Sem Potência" (Portuguese for "without power"), but it actually came from São Paulo, Brazil's largest city. For the SP-2 version, however, engineers enlarged the displacement of the air-cooled flat-four engine to 1.7 liters. The unit thus developed 65 horsepower at 4,600 rpm and offered the SP-2 a top speed of 156 km/h (97 mph).
While the SP-1 sold in limited numbers, the SP-2 reached 10,000 units from June 1972 to February 1976, with the vast majority of them being sold in Brazil. The car was never officially sold in Europe, but one model found its way to Germany in 1971, when Rudolf Leiding was called back to VW headquarters to be installed as the company's CEO. He brought along an SP-2 as a gift to his wife. Today, European collectors own several SP-2 coupes and one can be seen in VW's museum. A few years ago, there was an attempt to revive the SP-2, but nothing has materialized so far.
