Volkswagen crafts a London Black Taxi for the future

Volkswagen is putting it’s own unique spin on a London icon. The VW London Taxi Concept, which is built upon the Up! city car platform, is an electric cab with an estimated range of 186 miles. Though the overall length of 3,730 millimeters means the Taxi concept is shorter than a VW Fox, its minimal front and rear overhang allow for plenty of room to accommodate the driver and two full-size adult passengers plus luggage. Inside, the Volkswagen London Taxi Concept features touchscreen displays that provide information on the surrounding area and the route being traveled.

Since this is just a concept, it doesn’t conform to current London taxi regulations. However, it does provide a glimpse at what the future might hold for emission-free urban transportation choices.

Volkswagen recalling nearly 380,000 cars over fire risk

Volkswagen AG has just issued a recall of nearly 380,000 cars due to the potential for fuel leaks which could lead to a fire. According to The Detroit News, A total of 266,936 Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Golf and Rabbitmodels from the 2007 to 2009 model years are affected, as well as an additional 110,350 New Beetle models (both hardtop and convertible).

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued an official recall bulletin, stating:

“The Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Golf and Rabbit vehicles may have a small plastic tab located on the windshield washer fluid reservoir that may chafe against an underhood fuel supply line. The New Beetle and the New Beetle Convertible vehicles may have a fastening clamp on a hydraulic hose of the power steering system that may be located in an improper position which could cause chafing against an underhood fuel supply line.”

In both instances, chafing could result in a fuel leak, which in the presence of an ignition source, could result in a fire.

NHTSA states that dealerships will either remove the plastic tab from the windshield washer fluid reservoir or, in the case of the New Beetles, inspect the position of the fastening clamp. Either way, the fix won’t cost owners a thing, and the recall is expected to ramp up by the end of January.

Volkswagen Transporter takes to the hills with the Rockton 4Motion

Need to transport a lot of people or stuff overseas? You could do worse than the Volkswagen Transporter. Need to take a lot of people or stuff off road? Then you’ll need this: the Transporter Rockton 4Motion.

The go-anywhere van from Volkswagen’s Commercial Vehicles division packs a 4th-generation Haldex all-wheel drive system with a locking rear differential and a 1.2-inch ride-height boost over the standard Transporter. Heavy-duty springs and damper help it carry over three metric tons of payload, while a 2.0-liter turbodiesel engine with either 138 or 178 horsepower does the pushing/pulling duties through a six-speed manual transmission.

There’s a more extreme Expedition package available straight from the factory with 16-inch wheels and all-terrain tires, a heftier transmission and a heavy-duty floor-rail system for variable seat and cargo configurations. Details in the press release after the jump, along with the high-resolution images in the gallery below.

Get a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta for $5,995 from Gilt

Oprah may have given away a whole fleet of 2012 Volkswagen Beetles on her TV show, but now VW is partnering with Gilt.com to offer its 2011 Jetta sedan up at a very, very low price. The new Jetta has just landed at dealerships around the country, priced from $15,995, but Volkswagen will be giving away three Jettas to members of the Gilt flash sale site for $10,000 less than the normal starting price. That’s right, a brand new Jetta for under $6,000.

A total of three Jettas will be given away, starting on Wednesday of this week (one car per day). On December 15 this special offer will only be available to Gilt members with the mobile application (iPad, iPhone, Android, etc.), and the remaining two Jettas can be had by the full raft of Gilt members.

If you’ve ever thought about joining Gilt, now’s the time – there could be a 2011 Jetta in your future. For the full details, hit the jump to read Volkswagen’s press release.

2012 Volkswagen Golf R headed to U.S.

It’s been a couple of years since Volkswagen’s heavyweight hot hatch, the R32, graced America’s shores, but now we have official word of a successor. Tuned by the in-house R team at Volkswagen, the Golf R should be a good bit more exciting than its already entertaining forebear, and hopefully, it will shave a few pounds off, too.

Unlike the R32, which was powered by VW’s popular VR6, the new model will be powered by Volkswagen’s ubiquitous turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. And while Volkswagen isn’t quoting power output for the new U.S. model, the European version currently on sale conjures up 270 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. All of that gumption will be routed through VW’s fourth generation Haldex 4Motion all-wheel drive system, which means the VW should once again be a good foil for cars like the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart.

Along with the power increase, VW is promising bigger brakes, an uprated suspension, 18-inch wheels, center-exit dual exhaust and a more liberally tuned ESP. Perhaps most interestingly, the Golf R will be available in both two and four doors and be paired exclusively with a manual transmission. That’s right, we said it.

Although the press release after the jump doesn’t mention when it will debut (our money’s on Detroit), additional R accoutrements include model-specific aero bits and badging, along with upgrated trim and a new steering wheel, shift knob, and so on.

In other words, it’s time to get excited.

Are you the 2012 Volkswagen NMS?

For all of secrecy surrounding the New Midsized Sedan, we may have just scored our first unfettered glimpse at the new Volkswagen four-door. The quick-eyed crew over at JokeForBlog managed to lay their hands on a scant few images of what appears to be the NMS, and the vehicle looks to take more than a few cues from the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. Using the German carmaker’s revised corporate face up front and the same hexagonal license plate inset on the trunk deck, the similarities are almost overwhelming. We’ve got to wonder exactly what VW has planned to differentiate the two models other than size.

Unfortunately, if these shots are accurate, the as-yet unnamed sedan doesn’t appear to be nearly as aggressive as the renderings we saw at this year’s Paris Motor Show. While those drawings showed off a low-slung four-door with aggressive lines and plenty of menace in its bones, these spy photos show a vehicle that looks downright pedestrian and conservative. That said, given the modest wheels this model is wearing, we suspect it’s a lower trim level – hopefully more expensive models will appear more premium and aggressive.

With the current Passat headed for the scrap heap in America, it would appear that we’d best get used to what we see above. Odds are this machine is going to be a bigger, less-expensive replacement for long-serving VW four-door.