The joint venture of Volkswagen with First Automotive Works Corporation (FAW), which is one of the top Sino-foreign car partnerships, proved to be a good venture as they now expect their 2007 profits to increase by at least a quarter, helped by brisk sales and cost-cutting efforts.

“The venture, FAW Volkswagen, in the northeastern city of Changchun, will have a “minimum” profit growth of 25 percent this year from 2006,” Joachim Wedler said, their vice-president in charge of finance. However, Wedler didn’t disclose how much the firm will earn this year. Volkswagen only holds 40 percent of the firm whilst FAW holds the 60 percent.

Venture’s sales chief Weiming Soh said that it plans on selling more than 400,000 cars this year, which is 50,000 more from last year’s sales.

The first five months gave the firm a good start of the year as their retail sales jumped by 25.1 percent year-on-year to 173,218 units, making it reach the third spot after General Motor’s venture with SAIC Motor Corporation and Volkswagen’s other partnership with SAIC. “FAW Volkswgen’s June sales are expected to exceed 40,000 units,” Soh said.

The bold profit and sales projection of the company came amidst the blistering growth of China’s vehicle market. China-made vehicles’ slaes were up by 22 percent to 3.65 million units from January to May, including 2.12 million passenger cars, based on the industry data. During the first four months, the profits of the combined top 16 Chinese auto groups reached 18.1 billion yuan, increasing by 51.3 percent.

Wedler said that the cost-cutting plan of FAW Volkswagen is to use locally made engines and spare parts. “We are shooting for a very high localization rate to have more financial power to beat competition,” he said.

The competition is China’s passenger car market is going at its peak as companies are coming up with price incentives and product launches. Automakers offered some 50 price cuts in the first five months this year, based from the FAW Volkswagen data.

The venture’s general manager An Tiecheng said that it has plans on rolling out at least two new models under the Volkswagen and Audi makes yearly during the next five years to appeal to the increasing sophisticated buyers .

The venture will introduce a Volkswagen Magotan large-sized sedan next month. Their current line up includes Volkswagen Jetta, Bora, Golf, Sagitar, and Caddy. They also included Audi A6 and A4.

The latest specification and details on Volkswagen’s new compact off-roader, the 2009 Tiguan Crossover has been disclosed. This compact crossover is not due to come out until September at Frankfurt’s Auto Show, but Volkswagen has decided to let people in on the latest features their 2009 Tiguan has.

The 2009 model year for Tiguan is 173.2 inches long, 72.8 inches wide, and stands at 66.5 inches. It has the modified Golf/Rabbit as its platform and some specifications and attributes of the Touran MPV (which was sold in Europe) have been incorporated into this new compact off-roader. Three turbocharged gas engines and two turbodiesels are included in its global lineup of engines. The likely engine specification that U.S would have is a 200 hp, 2.0L turbo four with direct injection. There have been plans for a Jetta line having clean diesels and Volkswagen had also shown a Tiguan concept with clean diesel power during the 2006 L.A Auto Show but there is still no news on whether the upcoming 140 hp TDI engine will suit into the Tiguan.

In some world markets, the 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan comes with a choice of front ends. The first two will be called Trend & Fun and Sport & Style. Both will have 18 degrees at the front as their maximum entry angle. Track & Field will be the third one and it has a revised nose that would make it much more capable for off-road use. It is capable of entry angles of up to 28 degrees.

Volkswagen introduces another car technology in the form of the Offroad Mode. This is a button found on the dashboard that will activate a raft of alternative safety features. However, this technology will only be available on the Track & Field car, and this will switch on the hill descent control and hill climb assist. It wil also improve the throttle response to allow more accurate delivery of torque, and boost braking on loose surfaces.

This 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan will be launched at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show and will go on sale in Europe in early 2009.

Volkswagen of America is offering a vacation including their very own Volkswagen Touareg. Volkswagen has rolled out new vacation packages to Moab Utah, which they called the “Toureg Adventure.” This three-day adventure package costs $2,000 per person but it does not include airfare. This program will start in July and ends in October 31.

“Participants do not need to be experienced off-road drivers, as experienced guides will coach guests through the challenging Moab terrain,” the company said.

There will be three choices for the engines of the 2007 Touareg SUV – a 280-horsepower 3.6-liter six-cylinder, a 350-hp 4.2-liter V8 or a 310-hp 5.0-liter V10 TDi. All engines are linked to a six-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic.

The new Multivan, Volkswagen’s seven-seater vehicle, has had some added features on it for a more luxurious look. Volkswagen has always been connected with small cars with their Volkswagen Beetle, Golf, and Passat, with prices not exceeding $57,000(which would be the highest-priced Passat from Europe). But they actually have vehicles over that price range and the newest one would be their Volkswagen Multivan.

The Volkswagen Multivan is a luxury type vehicle which could seat seven passengers and was based on the T5 light commercial vehicle. But this vehicle is well sorted and with a lot of extensive features. If people would be asked to name the first “people-mover” van they remembered, there’s a good chance that they’ll be naming the Volkswagen Kombi. But today, the people-mover van that Volkswagen offers its market is one that has the touch of today’s luxuries.

The Volkswagen Multivan in it’s Highline trims has an electrically-operated sliding doors, a multifunction rear table, satellite navigation(which would cost about $4000 extra on lesser models), leather trim, heated front seats, 17-inch alloy wheels, front and rear parking sensors complete with front and rear fog lamps. Extra luxurious features would include a six-stack CD with eight speakers sound system, cruise control, power windows, ‘climatronic’ three-zone climate control and swivel seats in the middle row. All these extras give the passengers an even more comforting ride in the Multivan.

The Highline version of the Multivan is available with a choice of turbo-diesel or petrol engines and with Volkswagen’s 4Motion, which is their term for the all-wheel drive. The engines are placed transversally in the front. The petrol engine has the 3.2L V6, rated at 173kW of power at 6200rpm and 315Nm torque at 2900rpm. But these specs could only be attained if a premium (98RON) unleaded petrol is used.

Its diesel engine is the 2.5L 5-cylinder unit with intercooler, delivering 128kW of power at 3500rpm and 400Nm of torque at 2000rpm. Because it is with the 4Motion AWD either has to drive through a six-speed manual transmission. But in the front-wheel drive, it comes with a six-speed tiptronic automatic.

The Volkswagen Multivan Highline 4Motion is priced at $76,990 for the V6 petrol and $73,990 for the 4Motion diesel. The front-wheel drive diesel automatic is $72,990 and $75,990 for the V6 petrol.