Virginia Beach Volkswagen dealer, Checkered Flag Volkswagen, has some exciting news for Virginia Volkswagen shoppers wondering where the VW electric cars are. Volkswagen AG unveiled plans for a range of hybrid and electric vehicles that Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn says will account for 3 percent of the German carmaker’s global sales by 2018.

VW will introduce either the Up! city-car or the Golf compact, its best-selling model, as an all-electric vehicle in the U.S. by 2013. Before that, the automaker plans to sell a gas-electric hybrid version of the Touareg sport-utility vehicle later this year, followed by a Jetta hybrid in 2011.

Europe’s largest carmaker spends more than 5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) a year on vehicle research and development. Winterkorn, who will test drive a revamped Jetta compact sedan near San Francisco today, reiterated his goal of surpassing Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest auto manufacturer, in profitability and deliveries by 2018.

“VW is trying to prove that being a latecomer isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” said Christian Aust, an analyst at UniCredit in Munich who rates the stock “buy.” “They’ve rarely been the first mover, but have often entered the market with mature products. They’ve got a strong development department and their comfortable market position in Europe helps.”

“Our goal is clear and ambitious,” Winterkorn said yesterday at VW’s research laboratory in Palo Alto, California. “Volkswagen will be the automaker to mass produce the electric car for everyone.”

An electric version of the Lavida model will also be tested in China as preparation for a broader launch, VW said.

Volkswagen will test the second generation of the Golf TwinDrive, a plug-in hybrid that can run about 50 kilometers on electric drive, in Berlin later this year, Winterkorn said.

The U.S. will be an “important” market for electric vehicle for Wolfsburg, Germany-based VW, which will make research on electric cars a “top priority,” Winterkorn said.

Checkered Flag VW in Virginia is certainly excited for the future of Volkswagen. In the meantime Checkered Flag Volkswagen will continue to sell the highest quality new and used Volkswagens in Virginia. While Checkered Flag looks forward to Volkswagen new line of electric cars, VW hybrids are coming out this year! If you have any questions about  present or future Volkswagen vehicles, please contact a Virginia Beach VW advisor at 866-969-5878.

View Virginia Beach Volkswagen cars online at www.vw.checkeredflag.com

Prestige Volvo, a leading NJ Volvo dealership, eagerly awaits the arrival of the 2011 Volvo S80, featuring increased power and a host of added options.

The newest Volvo S80 is available in two trims: the S80 3.2 and the S80 T6 AWD.

The S80 T6 AWD and its 3.2-liter engine offer 300 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque, increases of 19 horsepower and 30 lb-ft over last year’s model.  In fact, the S80 T6 now offers nearly as much power as the discontinued V8 model, but at a lower price, going 0-60 mph in 6.3 seconds, just 0.3 seconds more than the V8.

2011 Volvo S80 Details from NJ Volvo Dealer

The S80 3.2 also receives a boost in power, with its six-cylinder engine now delivering 240 horsepower with a ULEV II emissions rating or 230 horsepower with PZEV (Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle) rating.

Inside, drivers and passengers alike will find themselves surrounded by luxury in the 2011 Volvo S80. Leather-trimmed seats with matching stitching come standard and are complimented by door panels with similar styling.

Owners can add yet more luxury to the interior with the Inscription Package.  The package features Sovereign Hide soft leather seating surfaces, a classic walnut wood steering wheel, ventilated front seats, classic wood inlays, upper dash and door panels, Inscription doorsill plates and floor mats, leather and classic walnut wood gearshift lever and a leather center armrest cover.

Learn more about new Volvo models on Prestige Volvo’s website: http://www.prestigevolvo.com/

Other available packages include the Dynamic Package offered on the T6 AWD and a Multimedia Package available on both vehicles.

The Dynamic Package features a lower ride height and, therefore, crisper response.  The package also includes shorter and firmer springs, modified shock damping, firmer anti-roll bars, stiffer subframe bushings, 18-inch “Fortuna” diamond-cut alloy wheels and dual xenon gas discharge headlights.

The Multimedia Package adds a Volvo Premium Sound System with Dolby Pro Logic II Surround Sound, a 650-watt amplifier and 12 premium speakers. The Volvo Navigation System with Real Time Traffic remote control and a new rear park assist camera is also a part of the package.

Customers can fully explore the 2011 Volvo S80 at the top NJ Volvo dealer, Prestige Volvo.

New Volvo Cars For Sale

2013 Volvo XC60 Price: $47,545	2013 Volvo S60 Price: $35,695	2013 Volvo S60 Price: $38,245
2013 Volvo S60 Price: $36,095	2013 Volvo S60 Price: $38,245	2013 Volvo XC60 Price: $44,845
2013 Volvo S60 Price: $38,245	2013 Volvo XC60 Price: $41,860	2013 Volvo XC90 Price: $46,145

I am a web developer for Davis GM, Lethbridge.  A few people in and around the dealership will come up to me and ask some pretty basic questions about some of our vehicles as if I were a salesperson, – and why not?  I’m wearing a collared shirt and dress pants.  If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, there is a very good chance it’s a duck.  Unfortunately I am not a salesperson, nor a duck.

I decided to write this blog about the new 2011 Buick Regal because one, its one of the hottest cars out there.  The second reason I have chose to write this blog is because I wanted to force myself to do a bit of research on this vehicle. You know, learn a thing or two about it so that I can share about some of the features when approached.

So here is what I know – Let’s start with a bit of history.  First, the last time that this European beauty was offered to the western market was in 2004. Second, the European market knows this vehicle as the Buick Intrigue, where we know it as the Buick Regal.  In 2009 the European Regal (Intrigue) earned Car of the Year honors, establishing itself as the best-selling mid-size car in Europe.  You always hear of young kids talking about European imports, how this car is better than that car etc. etc (Thank-You Fast and the Furious). I guarantee they have never brought up the Regal. Well that’s because it’s a Buick, Buick’s are for the older generation right? NO!

So many people have this idea that Buick is not a young person’s car.  Maybe I am too young to be able to trace back-in-time to figure where we got this idea, but after driving this vehicle and seeing it out on the lot, I can guarantee you it is not.  It’s a shame that a company can be stigmatized as an “older generation” vehicle because they excel at creating vehicles with comfortable interior’s and incredible suspensions.  Do people consider BMW and Mercedes Benz an “old person’s” vehicle? Maybe, I guess that depends on one’s personal opinion.  I feel that the new 2011 Buick’s have the appearance of those high-end vehicles.  Only Buick has found a way to pull it off just a little bit better.

I am simply a web developer at Davis GM and do not know a whole lot about the cars we sell.  I would love to be able to tell you that the Regal has a standard 182 hp 2.4 L ECOTEC 4-cylinder engine with Direct Injection and Variable Valve Timing (VVT) and be able to tell you what that all means, but I should probably leave that up to the experts.  I can only tell that if you lined up one-hundred and eighty-two horses to a wagon.  That wagon is going to be able go really, really fast.  The 2.4L ECOTEC 4-cylinder engine with VVT, is a little bit tougher to explain.  If I had to explain it simpler for you; those 182 individual horses are the biggest and badest horses and they can get from point A to point B without expending a whole lot of energy.  Most people think for days for analogies like that, I just did that one the spot… Good for me!

Last week I posted a 2011 Buick Regal commercial on our Facebook page. You may or may not have noticed that the soft, perfectly toned voice enticing you to buy, is none other than himself, Mr. Kevin Bacon.  If Kevin’s soothing voice couldn’t seduce you into test driving one of the cars perhaps I can.  If you’re like me and cant drive a standard and have always thought they looked fun to drive.  The Regal CXL has a 6-speed automatic transmission with Driver Shift Control allowing you shift like a pro; that’s right, no clutch! . The CXL has 6 different airbags. Dual Driver and front passenger, as well as front and rear side head curtain air bags and a front seat side thorax airbag.  Talk about safety. The sound system in the Regal is unreal.  It has a 7 speaker Harman/Kardon audio system with CD player, MP3 playback and a 10GB storage for your library of songs – Between the 10GB hard drive and Buick offering 130 channels of XM Satellite radio, you’ll never hear the same song twice.

I am running this review a little longer than I had intended, it’s just that there is so much the Regal has to offer.  I wanted to go in to detail about how the odometer is not your average flat digital clock, and that each number is almost an image with shape and dimension.  That is if you didn’t happen to pick up a CXL Turbo which has the digital Heads-up Display on your front windshield… Looks like I told you anyways.  The biggest surprise to me was when I read that Regal basically uses a form of artificial intelligence to learn your driving style. The CXL Turbo offers a interactive Drive Control System that enables you to choose between three driving modes: Normal, Tour and Sport.  Each of these modes continuously adjusts the suspension, steering, throttle, transmission and stability system to respond to your preferences and driving conditions.  Lift this car of the ground and George Jetson would even be impressed.  It is these very reasons why I feel the 2011 Buick Regal is simply a spacecraft on four wheels.

Come in to see what makes this car the European standard!