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Back to basics for VW, says Walter de Silva

By Adam Towler Motor Industry 25 June 2008 13:01 It was an odd place for an inside line into what future Volkswagens will look like, but when head of VW Group design Walter de Silva invited CAR to the old Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin - now a conference and shopping centre – we could hardly say no. De Silva described VW as being immersed in a 'process of defining their design language' which could be read as ‘we’re still sucking our designer thumbs to see what happens’. Audi, De Silva said, had already been through that process and its design DNA was ‘understood by everyone in the company, right down to the smallest details'.

Audi reveals new Quattro concept sketches before Frankfurt

Audi has released a series of official design sketches revealing its reborn Quattro supercar concept, which will underpin the German carmaker's presence at the Frankfurt motor show next month. The modern-day Quattro aims to revive the spirit of the rally-bred Sport Quattro launched in 1984. The aggressively styled coupe has been conceived as a limited-production model that is set to be priced above that of any existing Audi model as technological figurehead for the rest of the lineup with a new plug-in hybrid driveline that mates a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 gasoline engine and electric motor for an overall output close to 800 hp.

Former Ford exec Theodore shows off lighter chassis at SAE

Automakers are facing tougher government regulations for fuel economy, and one former Ford and Chrysler executive says he has a solution Chris Theodore, best known for his work on the Ford GT and Dodge Viper, has designed a vehicle chassis that he says will provide automakers with weight savings, cut manufacturing costs and make electric vehicles more economically viable. Theodore is showcasing his proof-of-concept Uni-Chassis at the SAE World Congress this week. It uses the powertrain and suspension of the GT, under an agreement with Ford.