The Chrysler-sourced VW Routan minivan will start $24,700 for the "S" model. The mid-range "SE" stickers at $29,600, and the range-topping "SEL" starts at $33,200. As an added incentive VW is partnering with Upromise, the country's largest private source of college funding, to offer Routan customers $1500 towards their kid's college education.

"We know parents are concerned about saving for their kid’s future. To help families tackle this challenge of saving for college, we’re excited that we are able to partner with Upromise,” said Tim Ellis, Vice President of Marketing, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “We’re aware that the cost of college continues to rise exponentially, far outpacing inflation, and our hope is to help our customer’s off-set that cost, while getting a great new vehicle.”

The vehicle will go on sale in September.

Full story here.

BMW wins big in this year's International Engine of the Year Awards, garnering six first places. Winners in all categories are:

International Engine of the Year:
BMW 3-LITRE TWIN TURBO (135, 335, X6

Best New Engine of the Year:
BMW 2-LITRE DIESEL TWIN TURBO (123D)

Green Engine of the Year:
TOYOTA 1.5-LITRE HYBRID SYNERGY DRIVE (PRIUS)

Best Performance Engine:
PORSCHE 3.6-LITRE TURBO (911 TURBO, 911 GT2)

Sub 1-litre:
TOYOTA 1-LITRE

1-litre to 1.4-litre:
VOLKSWAGEN 1.4-LITRE TSI TWINCHARGER

1.4-litre to 1.8-litre:
BMW-PSA 1.6-LITRE TURBO

1.8-litre to 2-litre:
VOLKSWAGEN/AUDI 2-LITRE TURBO FSI

2-litre to 2.5-litre:
SUBARU 2.5-LITRE TURBO (FORESTER, IMPREZA, LEGACY, OUTBACK)

2.5-litre to 3-litre:
BMW 3-LITRE TWIN TURBO (135, 335, X6)

3-litre to 4-litre:
BMW 4-LITRE V8 (M3)

Above 4-litre:
BMW 5-LITRE V10 (M5, M6)

Full story here.

Here's Inside Line's take: BMW 3.0-Liter Twin-Turbo Dominates 2008 International Engine of the Year Competition

Fresh off nailing down the Jaguar/Land Rover deal; there are rumors that Tata is interested in getting a stake in both MV Agusta, the hyper-performance Italian motorcycle maker; and Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina.

It's interesting to note that both VW (VW and Ducati?) and now Tata, are interested in getting an exotic motorcycle brand under their large umbrellas.

As for Pininfarina, Tata is aiming to take a minority holding in the firm, partnering up with the French industrial group, Bollore, with up to a 100-million euro capital increase. It's expected that Tata and Bollare will cut down the Pininfarina family's share from 55-percent to 30-percent.

Full story here and here.

VW is making a couple of significant changes to the warranties of all their 2009 models. One is good and one is bad.

Good: VW will be offering a new maintenance service plan called the "Carefree Maintenance Program." It's a no-charge program that will cover (pay for!) scheduled maintenance for the life of the new-car warranty, which three years or 36,00 miles. Also, the scheduled maintenance intervals are now stretched out to 10,000, 20,000 and 30,000 miles; meaning there will be fewer needed stops to the dealer during that course of time.

Bad: VW has reduced the warranty from 4 years/50,000 miles to 3 years/36,000 miles.

Full story here.

Here's Inside Line's take: VW Rolls Out "Carefree Maintenance" Program for 2009 U.S. Lineup

There are much clearer pictures of the upcoming VW Robust pickup now up on the Net, thanks to Brenda Priddy and her gang of photo sleuths.

This time a crew cab version was caught with only the front and rear masked. It appears to be mid-sized, and hints a bit ,from the profile of the Chevy Colorado. The Robust will come in both 2WD and 4WD versions. As to cab choices, beyond the crew cab pictured here, it's rumored that there will be a regular cab as well.

Complete images and more info can be found here.

There are stories up on the Net that, back in 1985, VW's Chairman Ferdinand Peich had wanted to buy Italian motorcycle maker Ducati. This was back when Ducati was in financial trouble, and could have been bought for a song.

...And apparently VW is still interested in acquiring Ducati according to a recent Bloomberg.com news item.

"I would still like a small, valuable motorcycle manufacturer," says Peich, who, at the age of 71, owns and rides a Ducati.

So, good idea or bad idea? Do you think that knowledge gained by having a bike partner could filter down to their automotive division, or vice-versa? Consider that Honda and BMW have motorcycle divisions, both of which have benefited by having that two-wheeled association.

OK, that Ford neo-Thunderbird image was posted to get your attention. Guess what... it's one on the list.

So David Kinney, a guy who follows old cars, and who's the publisher of Cars That Matter Price Guide, has listed six now-cheap cars that he guarantees will raise in value over the years.

"I will guarantee that every one of these cars have done better than the stock market has since the beginning of the year," states Kinney.

Curious? Read on.

More evidence of VW's new Robust pickup has shown up over at UK's AutoExpress. Straightline just did a blog on this last week (VW's Robust pick-em-up).

In addition to the crew cab seen here, it's expected to be offered in a regular cab model as well. The vehicle is sized to go against the mid-sized Japanese pickups, but will likely have a higher payload than the Asian competitors. Originally it was thought that VW was merely going to be offering merely a badge-engineered Toyota HiLux (similar to the Tacoma), but recent news suggests that it will be an all-VW effort.

Full story here.

It's long been known that VW is interested in jumping into the water with a new pickup truck. Recently there have been spy images of a Toyota-based pickup coming from (VW pickup spied!).

The latest news coming from PickupTruck.com indicates that the working name for this vehicle is "Robust," and that it will be a true VW design. Whether that name sticks, or just remains an internal code name is still in question. Also in question is as to whether the US market will get it, but I can't imagine it not coming here.

The news that this will a VW effort, and not rebadged Toyota, I think is great. I have nothing against Toyota, but I'm not in favor of re-badged vehicles. Speaking of which, I just got back from the NY auto show, and the Chrysler-based VW van looks great. However, under the skin it's nothing but a Town & Country. I just don't think that's a smart move on VW's part. People look to VW for innovation, not repetition.

Full story here.

DISCLAIMER: Yes, this is a Subaru video. Yes, I'm a Subaru fan. Yes, the Forester and Legacy GT have different AWD systems (VDC on the GT which allows for 1-wheel traction, and not on '08 Forester, but is on '09 Forester). Yes, the Highlander and VW here are 2007 models, and therefore may not represent what's currently being sold. No, that doesn't mean that the results aren't valid or informative.

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We all hear and read about AWD these days, and we also know here are a bunch of different systems out there which all work differently. More to the point, some work better or worse than others. Unfortunately there's not much out there showing the "actual" advantages of one system over another.

The vehicles here are all tested in a lab and on a ramp with four rollers that can be locked or unlocked to simulate icy conditions. While Honda, Toyota and VW may well have their own videos that show their vehicles to be superior, I haven't seen any. To be more truthful, I haven't gone out of my way to look for any either. I have, however, seen several videos that show Subaru's AWD in comparison to some of its competitors, and this is just the most recent one that's come to my attention.

So whether you buy into this video, or just consider it Subaru propaganda, the results are still interesting.