2013 Frankfurt: The Volkswagen Group rolls out plenty of fresh metal

Story by John LeBlanc FRANKFURT — On the eve of the 65th Frankfurt auto show, Germany’s largest automaker, the Volkswagen Group, rolled out a fleet of new vehicles from its dozen automotive, truck and motorcycle brands at a private media event. While there was fresh metal from the Volkswagen Group’s Seat and Skoda brands we’ll never see in Canada, there was still plenty of new from its Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche and Volkswagen brands: • As the mother brand of the Group, Volkswagen rolled out a host of new vehicles, highlighted by the pure-electric e-Golf and e-Up! The electric Up! will be VW’s first-ever production electric vehicle, with a range of 190 kilometres. It goes on sale in Europe this fall. The larger e-Golf arrives in 2014. VW also unveiled a slightly taller version of its new seventh-generation Golf. Called the Sportvan, it replaces the European-market Golf Plus. • Reminiscent of the Lamborghini Parcour supercar/crossover, the also-Giugiaro-designed Audi Nanuk is supercar/crossover concept car. A mid-mounted 5.0-litre 10-cylidner diesel engine makes 544 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, allowing Audi to claim the Nanuk can go from zero to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. • Potentially impinging on sister brand Lamborghini’s turf, Porsche debuted its 918 Spyder, a two-seat, mid-engine gas-electric hybrid supercar. Despite sporting such prodigious performance numbers like 887 hp and a zero-to-100-km/h time of only 2.8 seconds, Porsche says the 918 Spyder only sips between 3.0 and 3.4 litres of fuel for every 100 km — less than a Toyota Prius. • The capital letter “S” being added to the already powerful Bentley Continental V8 GT coupe and GTC convertible may as well stand for “speedier.” With 21 horsepower and 15 pound-feet of torque added, the 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged eight-cylinder gas engine is now rated at 521 hp and 502 lb-ft. • With only a few made every year; almost every Bugatti Veyron is special, but the new Bugatti Legend “Jean Bugatti” Veyron is, well, special-er. The second vehicle in a six-part series of Veyrons that pay tribute to Jean Bugatti, son of the company founder and creator of the Type 57SC Atlantic, only three examples of the Bugatti Legend “Jean Bugatti” will be made, each costing around $3.12-million (freight and PDI not included!). • Buying time until a new replacement shows up next spring, Lamborghini rolled out yet another limited edition of its Gallardo LP 570-4 entry-level supercar. Dubbed the Squadra Corse, Lamborghini says it’s the “most extreme model in the Gallardo line-up” and promotes the supercar maker’s new motorsport department that sports the same name. This article was originally published by National Post Driving.

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