Not until Volkswagen came up with a compact car called VW Golf did the German automaker find a successful replacement to its iconic VW Beetle. For most parts of Volkswagen’s history the Beetle had been its most produced and popular car, until the time came when its novelty had worn thin. As the car industry became more competitive Volkswagen had nothing that could make a decent showing in the market but the Beetle. Even for the car’s manufacturer the VW Beetle feat was hard to outdo.

Volkswagen tried a slew of Beetle offshoots to pump interest back to its vehicle designs. Celebrated for its “people’s car” concept, Volkswagen innovation focused more on economical, comfort-tuned vehicles rather than on performance-class cars. Volkswagen gambled on its seminal idea, and it paid off when the front-wheel drive of the hatchback VW Golf showed the realization of the people’s car concept.

Toyota racers Serge Damseaux and Robert Paisley won last weekend’s Volkswagen rally. The event was round five of the SA Rally championship. In an S2000 Toyota RunX Rsi, the two extended their lead in the title chase to 10 points with three rounds remaining. It’s Damsaux’s 73rd National rally victory and his 11th on the Eastern Cape event.

Damseaux and Paisley set the quickest times on the first two stages, with two more stage wins later to end Friday in a close fight with championship rivals Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson (S2000 Volkswagen Polo).

Volkswagen doesn’t only make quality race cars. The also make quality Volkswagen bus parts.

In the opening stage of day two, the Toyota tandem took a five-second win and extended their lead over the remaining stages in the Longmore Forest to be 25 seconds ahead of Kuun and Hodgsdon.

Prototype presented in the Geneva Car Show (March, 9th, 2007) Toyotausablog.com

Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker and the biggest overseas car maker in China has started selling Magotan sedans in the country and in the process challenging Toyota Motor Corp.’s Camry which is equipped with high quality Toyota thermostat.

The Magotan sedans are equipped with 1.8-liter or 2-liter engine and have a base price starting 192,800 yuan or $25,000 basing in an email coming from Volkswagen. On the other hand Toyota’s China-made Camry has a price that starts at 197,800 yuan more expensive than the Magotan by 5,000 yuan.

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The Wolfsburg-based automaker plans to add as many as 14 new models in China by the end of 2009 in an effort to maintain its market lead. Likewise, the automaker’s Santana and Jetta sedans has claimed the top two spots in the first-half sales rankings in the country and comparing that with Camry which went on sale last year and was only able to obtain the fourth rank.