There are two new Volkswagen convertibles that are will set new trends in droptop technologies, the Beetle and the Eos.

The Beetle convertible inherited the same Beetle external feature, only thing is that it comes with a soft top that folds back like that of a baby buggy. According to some, it has the distinctive look of Beetle convertibles, which was called Cabriolets or Cabrios before. Statistics say that nearly 70 percent of owners are women.

The Eos is on the other hand, was named after the mythical Greek goddess of dawn. And as the source of its name, this convertible comes with cutting-edge technology. Its metal roof is not only retractable but also has an integrated sunroof. According to Volkswagen, the design of the Eos is muscular. They also aim to market it to 40 something college graduate.

There are numerous differences between the two vehicles, like their speed.

The Eos can run up to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds thanks to a 3.2L V-6 of 250 horsepower. The Eos also comes with a 2L turbocharged four that takes around a second longer to 60 mph.

The Beetle on the other hand is not as fast but can very well compete with other cars. Because of its 2.5L inline five-cylinder engine of 150 horsepower it can catch up with the Eos in 10.4 seconds.

The Eos’ V-6 gets 22 mpg in the city or 29 on the highway. The Beetle ragtop with its five-cylinder power plant comes in almost the same 22/30. The difference is that the Eos is bigger.

They differ in the price too. The Beetle soft top starts at $22,120. On the other hand, Eos with the four-banger starts at $27,990 and with the six starts at $36,850. Meanwhile, the Eos V-6 is a bit higher at $40,930.

When the snug hardtop is down on Eos, there’s a rollover protection system that elevates mini-rollbars in accidents. The Beetle also has automatic rollover supports. For its safety features, both cars have anti-lock brakes and vehicle stability control systems.

The Beetle’s windshield is thrust away from the driver but its severe rake produces a wide expanse of upper dashboard. It’s not unlike being in a convertible minivan. With the top down, the view to the rear is restricted.

Base on a road test, the steering of the Beetle is quick but curves are taken without almost no road feel. While the Eos can go around curves with glue-like adhesion with little body roll. The steering is also quick and accurate with agile handling. The 12-way heated seats helps soak up the bumps and makes for fine cross-country driving. One disadvantage though is that it does not have a lot of cargo capacity to offer motorists.

In Volkswagen’s first supplier conference held in Mumbai, the topic was the German car company’s partnership with India. It was back in 2006 when Volkswagen signed an agreement with the Maharashtra government stating that a plant will be built at Chakan near Pune. The new plant reportedly has a capacity 110,000 vehicles annually and will begin production by the end of 2009.

In a company release, the plant will be including a a press shop, body shop, paint shop and assembly lines. It also said that setting up the plant will generate 2,500 new jobs.

Mr Joerg Mueller, President of Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd said, “Our objective is to establish Volkswagen as a local manufacturer and long-term business partner in India.”

Mr Pierre Bruedgam, the Executive Director, Procurement, VWIPL, explained, “We will start our sourcing activities soon to find potential partners for Volkswagen in India with local as well as global perspective.”

The conference was attended by 250 suppliers from India and abroad last Wednesday.

Proton shares may be on the way to their biggest one-day gain in more than five years due to a report that Volkswagen may buy a controlling stake in the Malaysian car maker’s assets.

It was earlier today when reports came out that Volkswagen may buy a 51 percent stake in a newly formed unit that will own Proton’s manufacturing, research and development and engineering divisions. It was after Edge Financial Daily reported this matter when Proton stock supposedly rose as much as 21 percent

The same news report also said that Sime Darby will buy a 43 percent stake in Proton Holdings from a Malaysian state investment company, Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

The Malaysian car maker has lost half its market share after selling six out of 10 cars in the local scene 10 years ago. Right now they need a partner to develop new car technology and new models. There is an agreement with Kuala Lumpur-based Sime Darby, that they would help the government to keep Proton under local control.

“It’s positive with Volkswagen coming in,” said Jason Yap, a Kuala Lumpur-based analyst. “It’s taking over the platform, the R&D, basically controlling the whole manufacturing of Proton.”

The shares of Malaysia-based Proton went up as much as 1.2 ringgit to 7.05 ringgit and traded at 6.8 ringgit at 12:09 p.m. The stock is set for the biggest daily percentage increase since Feb. 19, 2002.

The shares of Sime Darby fell as much as 2 percent to 10 ringgit and traded at 10.1 ringgit after the Edge report said the company may pay 9.5 ringgit for each Proton share. The company also has other assets in palm oil plantations and car sales.

Ahmad Zubir Murshid, chief executive officer of Sime Darby, said he was in a board meeting and was unable to talk when contacted on his mobile phone today. While, Faridah Idris, a spokeswoman at Proton, declined to comment. Ahmad Shahizam Shariff, a spokesman for Khazanah, didn’t answer a call to his mobile phone. Andreas Meurer, a spokesman for Volkswagen, didn’t answer a call to his office outside business hours.

Malaysia’s government controls Proton through a 43 percent stake held by state investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd. The government has also been looking for a partner for the car maker since an alliance with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. ended in 2004. But they were not successful in reaching the self-imposed March deadline to find an alliance for Proton.

Proton was set up in 1983 by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to promote Malaysian manufacturing. The government hasn’t explained why it missed the deadline to find a partner.

The Edge said representatives from Volkswagen, Khazanah, Sime Darby and the office of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi are currently meeting in New York to complete the details of the agreement.

Proton reported last a month a loss of 591.4 million ringgit ($172 million) for the 12 months ended March 31, its first annual loss since at least 1991.

Volkswagen has upgraded the specification of the Phaeton with a new TDI engine and a range of technical innovations. The luxury saloon now features a 3.0-liter turbo-diesel, making it one of the few car engines worldwide to fulfill the Euro 5 emission standards that will take effect from 2009.

It now has an acceleration to 100 km/h or 62 mph in 8.4 seconds, with a top speed of 236 km/h. Production began in May and the car is will be available in the European market this summer.

Other new features Phaeton have are chrome accent strips in the front apron area, LED daytime running lights and bi-xenon headlights. New-style 19 inch alloy wheels are also fitted and the navigation system is equipped with DVD support.

The car’s Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system has also been upgraded with a front and back scanning system, monitoring the distance between vehicles in front and behind, at the same time warns the driver if needed. This system also prepares the car for possible hard or emergency braking.

Volkswagen is set to do its final trial test for the new Tiguan in Namibia. This last test is said to complete the development phase of the vehicle.

Testers would be focusing on the electronic components and chassis of the new SUV during its final acceptance drive through the African continent. They would likely gain some interest in the technical highlight of the Tiguan like the completely new generation radio and navigation system, which were developed in close cooperation with the most important local Volkswagen operations in Europe, Asia and America.

Worldwide development collaboration also made it possible for a wider specialized know-how and the requirements of all markets, to influence the devices. The top system of the new line, with the designation RNS 510, has a 30 GB hard disk and is controlled with a touch screen. Add to that a rear-view camera enables a view behind in this case.

A new electronic system also helped simplify offroad driving in the Tiguan. The SUV uses an innovative network of assistance systems with the name of “Offroad Mode”. With just a touch of a switch activates a whole set of safety features, supporting the driver in a multitude of situations.

The Tiguan will be offered in two body variants which differ in their front ends. The “Trend & Fun” and “Sport & Style” versions are designed for a maximum entry angle of 18 degrees in front. The “Track & Field” Tiguan that is suited for offroad duty can assume entry angles of up to 28 degrees with its front end.

Long before the first prototype was built, Volkswagen had decided that the new Tiguan would be an extremely actively driving and safe SUV. The Tiguan now has to demonstrate in Africa that it achieves neutral to lightly understeering handling and an unusually low roll angle. The terrain of the Namib Desert is a ideal place to test how well the highly dynamic driving characteristics and excellent ride comfort interact under the hardest conditions. The goals set for the chassis development were agile driving behavior, very good vibration behavior and ride comfort, low roll angle with harmonic roll dynamics, high driving dynamic stability and lastly good offroad handling. These demands are achieved by enhancing the chassis layout by equipping the front end with a McPherson axle specially optimized for the SUV. The four-link rear axle has also been adapted to best suit the chassis layout

Tiguan also has a newly constructed steering gear that will be responsible for not transmitting any jolts to the steering wheel even in offroad operation.

To provide a better driving experience the Tiguan will have 16-inch wheels with 215/65 R16 tires. The “Sport & Style” Tiguan also has standard 17-inch alloy wheels and 235/55 R17 tires. While 18-inch wheels with tires in 235/50 R18 format will be available as special equipment.

As to set new standards in the compact SUV class, the Tiguan has anewly designed radio and navigation system generation. The software and hardware of this new system fulfill the highest demands for operation, sound and the multitude of functions offered. The radio navigation system has a RNS 510, that is controlled using fixed menu buttons, two knobs and a touch screen for the numerous information, entertainment and system functions. In this case a rear-view camera eases the view behind, a standard fitting. A very helpful innovation of the RNS 510 is a specially developed offroad navigation system, which makes it possible to record up to 500 route points during a journey, even in non-digitized areas. This allows the driver to find his way back from offroad adventures into any desert or steppe. The system also has an edit mode, where the driver can modify the route as desired.

Another technology incorporated in the Tiguan is park steering assistant called Park Assist, the first in the world to be installed in a SUV.

Volkswagen is still in full control after sports car maker, Porsche, failed in the public takeover bid of the German car company. Porsche AG said that its offer to buy the shares it does not already own in Volkswagen AG expired with less than 1 percent of the stock offered for sale by investors.

Porsche earlier said that it has no plans to acquire Europe’s biggest automaker outright and has maintained this statement throughout the bidding process. The company offered 65.54 Euros (US$89.42) for each preferred share and 100.92 Euros (US$137.69) per ordinary share. On the other hand, Volkswagen shares rose 1.9 percent to 115.80 Euros (US$155.82), while Porsche shares gained 1 percent to 1,352.53 Euros (US$1,819.92).

“Given that the current stock exchange price is higher than the offer price, the result was as expected,” said Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking. “The completion of the mandatory offer is, amongst others, subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities and is not expected to occur prior to the end of June.”

Porsche lifted its stake in Volkswagen last March to help the company from possible foreign takeovers. The company’s other major shareholder is the German state of Lower Saxony, which holds a 21 percent stake.

Analysts saw the move as a clever strategy for Porsche to increase its decisive power in Volkswagen without being forced to pay over the odds for any additional shares. Experts also suggested that Porsche could be considering that Volkswagen share price would fall in the wake of the announcement, which will let them to buy additional shares at cheaper amounts.

Now that the takeover bid has failed, Porsche is legally free to acquire further shares in Volkswagen until it reaches 50 percent at which point it would have to make another takeover offer.

It was actually earlier this year when Porsche first decided to purchase more Volkswagen stock, with its stake raised to over 30 percent. Under a German law, it was mandatory for the low-volume luxury automaker to launch a bid for all outstanding public shares of Europe’s largest automaker. Usually when one company wants to take over another, they offer a stock buyout price that is equal to or greater than the actual market value. But in Porsche’s case, it only offered 101 Euros even though the stock is trading at about 112 Euros. Volkswagen shareholders then rejected Porsche’s offer because of the low offer price.

Porsche unexpectedly bought shares in Volkswagen back in September 2005, becoming its biggest investor and protecting it from a possible takeover.

It is not surprising that Porsche would gain interests in Volkswagen, for the two automotive company have close relationships even in the past. In fact, Porsche founder, Ferdinand Porsche, was the original Volkswagen designer. The first Porsche cars, like the 1948 Porsche 356, used many Volkswagen components including a tuned engine, gearbox and suspension. Other collaborations were the 1969 and 1970 VW-Porsche 914, the 1976 Porsche 924 and the 2002 Porsche Cayenne.