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Yesterday marked the beginning of the Paris motor show and with day one over and day two beginning, there are many headlines making their way out of the automotive industry today and one of the manufacturers represented here today is the Volkswagen brand. Yesterday the company revealed a number of brand new vehicles all set to make their way onto our roads in the future and we are giving you a round up of the big Volkswagen news to come from day one of the motor show today here at Shortfall.

 

Volkswagen making headlines in Paris

First on the agenda we see the addition of the brand new Polo GTI model from the manufacturer. The Polo alongside the Golf is one of Volkswagens most popular sellers around the world and has been locked in competition with vehicles like the Seat Leon and the Ford Fiesta over its time on the road. Yesterday though the Polo GTI which is a much more power orientated version of the car was officially revealed and we believe that it could be the vehicle that dominates for Volkswagen in the near future. Changes to the style and design of the car alongside a much more powerful engine range and optional extras have been welcomed by the brand. With the GTI being a lot about power, that is where we will begin.

 

A 1.8 TSI single turbo engine has been introduced this time around and will develop both 189bhp and 320NM of Torque. Thanks to this insertion, fuel economy and C02 emissions are vastly improved. A manual six speed gearbox will also find a place in this new variant. It has been confirmed that a seven speed,DSG twin clutch,automatic transmission comes as an optional extra. The vehicle also comes in faster than the top spec Fiesta ST model as it now sees a top speed limit increase to 147 mph.

 

In regards to some of those changes made to the styling and design of the car on the outside, during production time Volkswagen have decided to add the fittings of a brand new designed front grille with red striping and a brand new set of bumpers. It isn't just the outside of the car that receives changes as the inside does also. An all new steering wheel, infotainment system and a new instrument cluster are also key noteworthy features.

 

Both three and five door variants will become available with the car and the GTI is stated to be made available from Volkswagen showrooms from early on into 2015. As for the price range to come along with the Polo GTI, prices starting at £19,000 are expected to come with the car. Order books will officially open up on the car from close to the end of this year.

 

The Volkswagen Golf Alltrack is revealed

 

Another addition to the line up comes to us in the shape and form of the brand new Golf Alltrack model which is an estate version of the brands biggest selling vehicle on the market. With the Polo making its presence felt in Paris, its only right that its brother the Golf does too. The Alltrack Golf was announced a number of weeks ago and comes to us in the shape and form of an estate variant of the vehicle. As expected, changes to the car consist of all new changes to the exterior design and interior leg and headroom. The Alltrack will receive a vast increase on interior space and will be all set to do battle with the like of the Octavia Scout from Czech firm Skoda. Regarding the big changes to be made to the exterior of the car, we see the additions of roof rails and revamped front and back bumpers which are included to help the car with ground clearance when driving on off road surfaces.

 

It has been confirmed that a vast range of engines will be on offer with the car which include a vast range of diesel units and just the one petrol engine. The 1.8 TSI with 177 brake horse power is your petrol option. Three diesel units are also on offer which carry over from the current Golf. These include a 1.6 TDI unit, a 2.0 TDI and a quicker 2.0 TDI unit. Power for the diesel engines range form 108 brake horse power to 181 brake horse power. 116 miles per hour is achieved from the entry level diesel whereas at the other end of the line up 136 miles per hour is brought into play as the top speed limit.

 

The firm have also stated that regarding equipment to come along with the vehicle, you can expect to receive features such as both cruise and climate control and a touch screen infotainment set up. The Alltrack has been confirmed to arrive on our streets from mid way throughout the course of 2015 and it is expected that a purchase price of around the £23,000 area will also come along with entry level Alltrack models.

 

Volkswagen take a step into the sports car division

 

Concept vehicles have been a key part of the Paris motor show this year with brands like Renault introducing the Eolab and Peugeot with the Quartz. Now their German rival VW have surprised the world with a concept version addition into the sports car world which comes as a variant from the XL1 line up. The brand new XL concept idea was revealed to the world as one of the biggest surprises of the event so far. The vehicle was revealed in a Matt Blue finish and in our opinion shares similar sorts of looks to that of the Audi R8. Where as the current production version of the XL1 focuses on fuel economy, this brand new XL Sport model is very power orientated. The car has been revealed to include the fitting of a brand new V2 power train putting out a large 197 brake horse power and has been taken from the Ducati motorcycle brand.

 

We find it very interesting as the Audi brand purchased Ducati for £708 million pounds back in 2012 and the XL Sport shares some similar body designs. Does this mean the XL Sport could be some ideal competition for Audi sports vehicles?. A DSG gearbox also comes thrown in with this VW Concept idea. Torque of 250NM has also been delivered on. Performance is massively demonstrated by the XL Sport as top speeds of 167mph are achievable and the sprint from 0 to 62 miles per hour is done in just 5.7 seconds. Nothing regarding a price tag or a launch was revealed by the brand but the company announced a huge milestone with the XL Sport as 200 million vehicles were confirmed to have come of Volkswagens production line at this moment in time and the concept XL Sport was that vehicle.

 

The Passat GTE hybrid has been unveiled

 

One of the final big news stories to be taken from day one of the event, is the addition of Volkswagens brand new contribution to the hybrid market with the introduction of the all new Passat GTE hybrid. The vehicle has been confirmed to share a lot of the same features as the standard Passat model but the difference is of course that the GTE is a plug in hybrid. This marks the second GTE model to be launched by the VW brand as it follows the Golf GTE. Speaking of the Golf GTE, the powertrain to come along with the Passat hybrid is exactly the same. We see that during production Volkswagen have included the fittings of a 1.4 litre,turbo unit which joined with the electric motor and six speed automatic transmission system, will officially deliver on 215 units of brake horse power. It was confirmed by the brand that a full charge on the lithium ion battery would take around four hours which would see the Passat travel on electric alone for a range of 31 miles.

 

New components such as LED lights for the front and back of the car and changes made to the infotainment system which helps drivers to establish which drive mode they are in could be seen as some key potential selling points. Order books on the Passat GTE officially open up from June next year, with the car to make its fist set of deliveries from October 2015.

 

Can we expect more from Volkswagen this year?

We are uncertain as to whether Volkswagen are set to make an appearance again at this years Paris motor show but for all of these vehicle reveals and the shocker of the XL Sport concept idea from the brand yesterday, we certainly think that the brand have made their presence felt in France this year and could very well give other manufacturers representing at the event that boost to deliver on some more magnificent vehicles in the future. Volkswagen have certainly represented the present and future of the brand in one day here with models like the Golf and Polo being updated showing that what has worked for them for many years still does today. They have introduced the new Passat as an addition to the hybrid division and could be the new EV of the future and speaking of the future of course, we see the XL Sport which if it brought to the production line and sold could be the very future we are looking for in the sports car industry.