Volkswagen warned Porsche on Monday that it would have to do a better job of explaining its finances before merger discussions could proceed, the latest indication that the talks were in trouble.

“We must systematically analyze the starting point to combine Volkswagen and Porsche, and we must get a clear idea of the true state of affairs at Porsche,” the Volkswagen chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, said in a letter to VW employees.

“We need absolute transparency with regard to the present situation,” he said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The International Herald Tribune. “It is in the interests of all concerned, our employees, all shareholders and our customers to ensure there is no threat to Volkswagen’s financial stability and autonomy.”

On Sunday, Volkswagen canceled a meeting of the working group responsible for details of the merger, saying “the atmosphere was not constructive” for progress. The company said no meetings were currently planned.

A Porsche spokesman, Michael Baumann, said he had “no comment” about whether the merger plans might be in trouble.

Porsche, which has a market value of about 7.2 billion euros, or $9.7 billion, ended up with debt of 9 billion euro on its way to acquiring 51 percent of Volkswagen. Last year, it entered into options contracts to raise its stake to about 75 percent, but it has never fully explained the deals, and neither Volkswagen nor corporate analysts are able to say with certainty what Porsche’s stake currently is. Porsche in January booked a one-time profit of 520 million euros on the options. …click here to read more

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At the 24-Hour Race on the Nürburgring on May 23& 24th, Volkswagen will field two Scirocco cars with innovative natural gas engines. Following the one-two victory at the Dakar Rally in January, which Volkswagen won as the first automobile manufacturer using diesel technology in the event, the Wolfsburg brand is now taking on another technical challenge – the use of EcoFuel engines in the endurance test twice around the clock on the world’s most demanding race track.

The two Scirocco GT24-CNG 2.0-litre turbo engines powered by natural gas deliver nearly 300 hp. In addition, the “factory” team will field three further Scirocco GT24 cars powered by 2.0-litre turbo petrol engines in the classic endurance race at the “Green Hell” in the Eifel region in Western Germany.

Last year, Volkswagen clinched a one-two victory in the 2.0-litre turbo class even before the Scirocco’s market launch. …click here to read more

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This is a blast from the past but we feel this machine still deserves a mention. Tuning company Dahlbäck Racing lets a german journalist take their evil creation for a spin. Dubbed (no pun intended) the Golf RSI. We can’t understand a thing the journalist is talking about, but honestly we really don’t care. Enjoy! …click here to read more

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VW-Porsche Sales Company established Forty Years Ago. Everything remained very quiet when today’s Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG established VW-Porsche-Vertriebsgesellschaft mbh, the VW-Porsche Sales Company, together with Volkswagenwerk AG, as it was called at the time, in April 1969. Holding stock capital of DM 5 million, the new company launched the strategy of success for two sports cars still carefully held back from the public pending their final presentation: the VW-Porsche 914 and 914/6.

The establishment of the VW-Porsche Sales Company marked the beginning of a true story of success – and the fortunate end of a dramatic development. Back in the mid-60s VW was looking for a successor to its then rather outdated Type 34 sports coupe, better known as the “Karmann Ghia”. At the same time Porsche was striving to expand its position in the market with a sports car in the promising segment beneath the 911. …click here to read more

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Volkswagen will again participate in the legendary Dakar Rally in 2010. After the one-two victory and the historic first “Dakar” triumph of a diesel-powered car this year, the automobile manufacturer from Wolfsburg will yet again take on one of the major challenges of international motorsport. “No doubt, the 2009 Dakar Rally contributed to the fact that the Volkswagen brand is now shining even brighter around the world,” said Prof Dr Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Volkswagen Group, on the occasion of the “Dakar” victory celebration at the Wolfsburg “Autostadt”. “Therefore, our participation in this event is a good investment in the future of our company and that’s why we decided to again compete in the Dakar Rally in 2010.” …click here to read more

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Swiss tuning house, Sportec has just released a new performance package for the Volkswagen Scirocco. The program consists of multiple engine upgrades, a tuned suspension, and alloy wheels. Sportec has managed to squeeze 350HP along with 354 ft/lbs of torque from the original 2.0L TFSI 200HP engine. …click here to read more

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Touareg V6 TSI Hybrid. Because the future of the automobile – and Blue MotionTechnologies as well – offers more than just one answer, in parallel Volkswagen is presenting a prototype of the future Touareg V6 TSI Hybrid (333 PS / under 9.0 l/100 km). This car will enter production in 2010 as the world’s first hybrid SUV to have 3.5 metric ton towing capacity. Volkswagen is introducing one of the highest performance parallel hybrid systems in the world in this SUV. The German carmaker is utilizing a high-tech alliance of a V6 TSI (245 kW) boosted by supercharger and an electric motor (38 kW). Up to a speed of 50 km/h, the Touareg V6 TSI Hybrid can be driven by just the electric motor. In this case, no emissions are generated. …click here to read more

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