Unless you have been living in a cave the last two years, you know that Porsche’s strong financial position has allowed them to make a gradual play for VW’s shares. In fact it is just the latest in what has been a long-time partnership between the two + Audi. You may recall that many years ago Audi+Porsche dealerships often shared the same building.

But what we really didn’t know until recently was how Porsche might use VW in their product portfolio. Remember that the VW Touareg , Audi Q7, and Porsche Cayenne share the same platform. The benefit being significantly cheaper development costs. Bear in mind that Porsche has had a benefit in this partnership of releasing their Cayenne before VW and Audi have released their products. Ironically, it is the smashing success of the Cayenne product line that has given Porsche the ability to launch a takeover of VW.

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We’ve discovered a great new site that can help budget your costs for the next cross-country road trip.

http://costtodrive.com

To review the site, it’s a little slow at times, but if you have a 2000 or new car and have your itinerary planned out for your great drive across America, Cost2Drive can calculate, pretty accurately, the cost of driving from Phoenix to Los Angeles in a 2001 Honda Civic. The answer is of course: $35. The price for driving a $1.5mm Bugatti Veyron with more than 4 times the horsepower? $135. But guess what, you won’t get there any faster…at least not legally!

This week’s link come to us from the LA Times’ Dan Neil.

The article discusses
LA Times Article

Lamborghini last year launched the ad personum program to provide individually tailored options to their cars. In January 2008, then went a step further by releasing the following:

LAMBORGHINI UNVEILS FASHION INSPIRED TRENDS FOR THEIR
GALLARDO AND MURCIÉLAGO MODELS AT THE DETROIT AUTO SHOW

Lamborghini Launches The Matte Trend, Proposing A New Dark Blue For Exteriors And Natural Tuscan Leather For Interiors As New Personalization Options

Automobili Lamborghini will present three brand-new examples of vehicle personalization, intentionally drawing inspiration from the most glamorous trends of the world of fashion, at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show on January 13-26, 2008.

The proposed individualizations are part of the Ad Personam personalization program. The vehicles are based on the concept of “think of the impossible” and offers Lamborghini customers the ability to create their own “original”, perfectly tailor-made super sports car.

The Gallardo Spyder will be presented in an innovative Ad Personam matte brown paint, Marrone Apus, now available on standard vehicles in the wake of the enormous success met by the Reventón, the very first Lamborghini offered with a matte finish.

Marrone Apus, an elegant shade halfway between brown and black, gives off exquisite golden reflections in the sunlight due to a pigment able to imbue the paint with an iridescent look.

The interior also exhibits a new shade of brown Alcantara, named Marrone Gaia which is used to upholster the seats. The fabric is combined with Marrone Janus and Bianco Polar leather, with the addition of Pianolac used to cover the center console and steering wheel.

A new shade of light blue, Blu Cepheus, also joins the Ad Personam program. It is proposed for the exteriors of the Murciélago LP640 Coupé and Roadster in Detroit. This pale blue is reminiscent of the naturalistic environment and is deliberately inspired by the purity and transparency of polar ice, in addition to depicting one of the most glamorous shades in fashion today.

This shade also benefits from the same iridescent effects of the matte paint. The same pigment selected for Marrone Apus is used in this case to attain and exalt a more primary blue when reflecting sunlight. Blu Cepheus is iridescent in the light just like icebergs, although it maintains its monochromatic nature.

Another novelty of the Ad Personam program is the leather selected for the interiors of the Murciélago LP640 Roadster. This leather covers the elegant seats of this super sports car, an Italian leather, in keeping with Tuscany’s prestigious tanning tradition. It is untreated, inspired by the natural leather found on horse saddles and leads to natural changes in color over time, a tendency that confirms its natural state and total absence of treatments.

“Lamborghini is strongly focusing on the Ad Personam personalization program due to the importance of offering customers the widest range of possibilities for individualizing their cars. This allows them the ability to reflect their own personality and style,” states Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. “Many of our customers take advantage of this program as a tool for owning an even more exclusive Lamborghini.”

Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced last year that it has changed its name to Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. The change will be fully effective January 1, 2008.

The new name better reflects the fact that the Volkswagen Group of America includes five distinct brands: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and Volkswagen, as well as the related financial services functions of Audi Financial Services, Bentley Financial Services and Volkswagen Credit.
“Our company, like the entire Volkswagen Group, has grown dramatically since our formation in the United States in 1955. Our new corporate name allows our individual brands to flourish, while recognizing that we have a common support structure that gives us great strength as we face our competitors,” said Stefan Jacoby, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The new name Volkswagen Group of America reflects the much wider array of goods and services we now offer, and prepares us for even more activities in the future.”

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Bugatti issued this press release in the last week:

Paefgen new President of Bugatti

Wolfsburg, March 13, 2007 – With immediate effect, Dr.-Ing. Franz-Josef Paefgen (60) has been appointed the new President of Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. (Molsheim) and Bugatti International S.A. (Luxemburg). He succeeds Dr. Thomas Bscher, who leaves the company by mutual agreement at the end of the month.
Paefgen will continue to perform his duties as Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley Motors Ltd. and General Representative of Volkswagen AG for Group Research and Motorsport in addition to his new responsibilities. >From 1980, he held various senior posts at Audi AG, the most recent being Chairman of the Board of Management from 1998 to 2002. Since 2002, Paefgen has, inter alia, been Chairman of Bentley Motors Ltd.
From 2003 to 2005, he was responsible for the development of the Veyron 16.4 as Chief Executive Officer of Bugatti Engineering.

Our analysis of this important appointment in twofold. First, it shows strength in that Paefgen has a background managing car firms that produce high-quality, ultra-expensive cars. Second, Paefgen’s success at Bentley proves that he can expand the product line for a small niche manufacturer. Bentley has very successfully done this in the past five years.

Why is this important? VW and Bugatti lose money on each Veyron sold, despite a US $1.3 million price tag. Still, Bugatti is critical to VW for two reasons. Firstly, it establishes them as a serious manufacturer of supercars and brings buyers to the VW group as a sort of flagship. Secondly, Bugatti serves as a critical test bed for VW group research and development. Serious R&D accomplishment that shows up in the Bugatti will eventually make its way into future Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Audis, and even VW-brand vehicles.

We should therefore expect to see further product development out of Bugatti in the form of a lower-priced more “mass-market” car (something with a production level of over 75 a year - the current production level for the Veyron). We should also expect some Veyron technologies in this and Lamborghini/Bentley models in the following years. This will serve, in part, to reduce the loss, a “sunk cost” technically, which has been observed at VW.

Yes, it’s that time of the year, the picks for the best cars as of Winter 2007.

Which European cars are by matter of fact, “the best”? Find out below:

Best Supercar over $500,000: Bugatti Veyron 16.4

Best Supercar under $500,000: Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

Best Ultra Luxury Convertible: Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé

Best Ultra Luxury Sedan: Rolls-Royce Phantom

Best Ultra Luxury Coupé: Bentley GT

Best Hot Hatchback: VW GTI

Best Hot Sedan: Audi S8

Best sound: (tie) Ferrari 599 GTB/Ferrari F430

Best sports car under $100,000: Porsche 911 Carrera S

Best sports car over $100,000: Aston Martin DB9 Volante

Best new sports car: Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Best Small Car: Mini Cooper S (John Cooper Works Edition)

Best Old Car Experience: Caterham Lotus 7 SV

Most economical and fun sports car: Lotus Elise

Mid-sized Sedan: BMW M5

Best Car for Old People Who Don’t Give a Damn: Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG

Best SUV: Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG

Best minivan/mpv (yes, I’m ACTUALLY including this category): Mercedes-Benz R63 AMG