Volkswagen plans buying Italdesign Giugiaro

[cpk]

Volkswagen will purchase a controlling stake in Italdesign Giugiaro
the company plans to become the world’s biggest automaker by 2018, with sales of 10 million vehicles a year, and to do so it will launch 60 new or updated models this year alone
read more on http://www.auto-power-girl.com/cars-news/2010/05/19/volkswagen/4414/volkswagen_to_buy_italdesign_giugiaro.html

[rs899]

I thought they sounded familiar.  It says they designed the original Scirocco.  Didn't they do the original Rabbit too?

[bagpipegoatee]

Original rabbit, subaru SVX, there's others I can't think of right now as well.

[DCC]

I thought they sounded familiar.  It says they designed the original Scirocco.  Didn't they do the original Rabbit too?

Of course they did! Also the dasher/passat, the Delorean MC12... The list is pure awesomeness... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgetto_Giugiaro

I sure hope this will mean VW doing sexy cars again. For my taste, they need less vans, and more cars.

[DCC]

That's funny...  They haven't made any vans in the U.S. since 2003 (and very few since 1992), unless of course, you want to call that re-badged Chrysler thing a VW.  The one vehicle I wish VW would make is a decent TDI camper van.

I was referring to the mk5 and mk6 golf.. (they're way too "round" and tall for my taste, but it's just my biased opinion based on how cool their former models use to look). They're great, from the point of view of car engineering, but they just don't do that well in the looks section. That's why I think it would be cool if they get some mad italian styling back.

I don't know about the vans in U.S., here in Europe we (still) got the van: transporter/multivan/california. The california, equipped for camping:
http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/california/
And the almost off-road Panamericana:
http://www.comerciales.volkswagen.es/es/es/Modelos/Nuevo_Multivan/versiones/PanAmericana-Bannerlandingpage.html