The 2011 Volkswagen Touareg rolls out with a new hybrid powertrain

Volkswagen is banking on the fuel-saving properties of a new gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain and what it describes as a wholesale improvement in quality levels to bolster North American sales of its second-generation Touareg. This new Touareg represents VW's first foray into the premium-hybrid-SUV market, which includes gasoline-electric entries from BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac, among others. Further competition will come from a similarly powered version of the new Porsche Cayenne, alongside which the new Touareg was developed.

Range Rover Sport claims desert crossing record

The last couple months have seen a number of cross-country record attempts, but here's one we didn't see coming, and frankly couldn't imagine taking place. But Land Rover claims to have broken the record for crossing Saudi Arabia's 'Empty Quarter,' starting at Wadi Adda Wasir in Saudi Arabia, and traveling east across the desert to the United Arab Emirates border. The 'Empty Quarter' is known to be one of the harshest and most challenging environments on the planet, and is actually the largest sand desert in the world and the second largest desert overall after the Sahara.

Volkswagen creates R division for sporty cars

Volkswagen is officially creating a company to develop sporty cars; it will be called Volkswagen R GmbH. This may sound familiar--VW already calls some of its specialty cars Rs--and now it's bundling sales and development all into one unit. VW has the Scirocco R and the Golf R for cars, as well as the dynamic R Line of design trims.