The Continental: Two Days in Wolfsburg and Notes on Opel, Daimler, and Kia

Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental. This week, I spent two days at the International Suppliers Fair in Wolfsburg. Unsurprisingly, the event is focused on Volkswagen; every two years, it is a prime opportunity to catch up with VW's own and many supplier executives. A lot of them came from South America this year: Fast-growing markets like Brazil and Argentina are battlefields of intense competition, and they are a gateway for Chinese carmakers. The product landscape in South America is fragmented and highly original. Examples? VW still makes the ancient Microbus in Brazil, although we recently found out that its production will end after 2013. The highly popular Gol is based on an old Polo platform, and there still is the Golf IV; Fiat sells the Mille, based on the early 1980s Uno; and Chevrolet offers a mixture of German, Korean, and American platforms. On that topic, I hear that GM's South American subsidiaries rarely are in contact with their German colleagues at Opel anymore. They now deal with GM in Korea. That's not a coincidence. Opel must fight hard if it doesn't want to become obsolete within GM. Volkswagen is launching the Up in Brazil next year, and one thing that emerged is the brand's unhappiness with the landscape of local suppliers. Audi's new head of purchasing, Bernd Martens, led the VW Group's purchasing for seven years, and his assessment of the Brazilian supply chain isn't pretty. I was present when he delivered his scorching critique in front of an audience of 300, many of whom the very suppliers he spoke of. Of the criteria the Group has set for its suppliers, Brazil's meet just 30 percent. The result: VW missed its 80-percent target quota for local content by a whopping 10 percent. "That's €600 (approximately $775) per car that we had to source elsewhere," Martens told the audience. "We have to import every high-technology component." As a helpful hint, he pointed the suppliers to Mexico for a better example: Audi has just committed to roughly $2 billion of investment for a production facility that will produce Q5s for global markets from 2015 onwards. But I prefer to see the positive aspects. Some South American markets are an absolute dream for horsepower addicts. Did you know there are still markets without any kind of emissions regulation? Paraguay doesn't have them. None. In Venezuela—perhaps not an ideal vacation destination—gasoline and diesel are practically given away. Brazil, on the other hand, is pushing hard to reduce emissions. And they have introduced real-life tests of claimed fuel economy. Ratings of a certain Korean car have dropped sharply. Cell Death at Daimler Mercedes-Benz has dropped the BlueEFFICIENCY badge on its gasoline-powered cars, which is good. It was sort of a joke on models like the CL550, and it suggested a diesel. I hear that a number of cars labeled as such were filled with diesel by their expert operators with grave consequences. (Congratulations!) But Mercedes also has dropped the E-Cell moniker—as in SLS AMG E-Cell—for its electric cars and replaced it with Electric Drive—as in SLS AMG Electric Drive. This not-so-exciting designation is supposed to emphasize the vaunted "experience" behind the wheel; anything with "cell" was deemed too technical. It's no big deal, but I find it too bad anyway. The E-Cell and F-Cell designations were unique and, of course, they were technical. I guess that makes them horrible. Comparison Test: 2013 Audi S6 vs. 2013 BMW M5, 2012 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Comparison Test: 2012 BMW X5 M vs. 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, 2012 Porsche Cayenne Turbo Comparison Test: 2013 Ford Escape vs. 2012 Honda CR-V, 2012 Hyundai Tucson, 2012 Kia Sportage, 2013 Mazda CX-5 , 2012 Toyota RAV4 Driving Kias Kia has launched a Europe-specific version of the Optima hybrid. Its main powertrain is not the 2.4-liter Theta gasoline engine, but a 2.0-liter Nu engine—which is more efficient than the 2.0-liter in the U.S.-market Optima hybrid. For further efficiency, the six-speed automatic is geared on the tall side. Initial acceleration is impressive and the powertrain is sufficiently strong and quiet on the Autobahn, but the hybridized Optima doesn't like hustling through corners. The transmission is clearly tuned toward smoothness, not quickness of response, and the composure of the chassis unravels as you approach its all-too-low limits. I want to like the Optima because it looks great, but in terms of vehicle dynamics, it's still far from the mark. Kia has face-lifted the Sorento, which I drove with a European-market 2.2-liter four-cylinder turbo-diesel that makes 194 hp and 311 lb-ft of torque. My test car was equipped with a six-speed automatic and all-wheel drive. The interior makes a leap forward with expensive-looking leather and vinyl trim accentuated by costly stitching. The chassis has been heavily revised with stiffer front and rear subframes, longer rear trailing-arms, larger bushings, and more-direct steering. All of this doesn't turn the Sorento into a Porsche Cayenne, but it's noticeably more agile than before. Kia is on the right track, and we're looking forward to an upcoming Pro_cee'd with a 1.6-liter turbo four that makes about 200 hp. That model should go a long way in proving Kia's sporting aspirations. Read full story » from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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