Volkswagen Group Operating Profits Soar 86 Percent in the First 9 Months of 2011

Whereas the rest of the European carmakers such as PSA Peugeot and Citroen and the Fiat Group are facing troubled times, the German auto industry is enjoying one of its most prosperous eras ever.

On Thursday, Europe's largest automaker, the Volkswagen Group, announced that it has earned more in the first nine months of 2011 than in the whole of 2010.

The company's operating profit surged to €9.0 billion (US$12.5 billion) from January through September, up from €7.1 billion in fiscal 2010 and €4.8 billion in the same period last year, which represents a staggering 86 percent increase.

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Skoda Wins Super 2000 World Rally Championship with Fabia

Skoda won last weekend’s RACC Rally of Spain and with it, the Super 2000 World Rally Championship – the first rally title in the company's 110-year old history.

Juho Hanninen and Mikko Markkula completed 18 stages and 406.5 km (252.6 miles), the longest event in the calendar, over both tarmac and gravel. After three days, they brought their Skoda Fabia S2000 to the finish line in first place in their class and 10th overall to win the title after their main rival, the Estonian Ott Tanak, retired on the first day.

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Milotec Lays its Hands on the Skoda Octavia II RS

The second generation of the Octavia is one of the more successful models to come out of the Volkswagen – Skoda partnership. And in RS form, the Octavia is perhaps one of the finest proposals in the family car segment for those looking to trade in some the VW Golf GTi's performance and handling attributes for more space and increased practicality without breaking their budget.

While not as popular as the GTI in the aftermarket scene, there's a selection of tuners that offer plenty of upgrades for the Octavia RS, which is available in Europe with a choice of two powerplants, a 2.0-liter TFSI petrol producing 200-horses, and a 2.0-liter TDI diesel with 170-ponies.

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VW Group Surpasses Six Million Sales in the First Nine Months of the Year

The Volkswagen Group is defying the economic crisis and gearing up to set a new sales milestone this year. For the first time in its history, the German maker sold 6.11 million vehicles (5.36 million if you exclude the Scania truck division) in the first nine months of the year, marking a 13.9 percent increase over the same period in 2010. Read more »

Skoda Begins Production of its New Citigo Mini

It's an important day for Skoda as the VW Group brand began series production of its brand-new Citigo small car at its facility in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday. The Citigo is a sister model to the VW Up! and the Seat Mii and it will play a crucial role in driving up the Czech manufacturer's global sales. Read more »

Skoda Rolls Out New Rapid Small Sedan in India [with Video]

In the next step towards its bold goal of increasing Skoda's worldwide sales to at least 1.5 million vehicles per year by 2018, the Volkswagen Group revealed a new entry-level Skoda sedan named Rapid at its Pune plant in western India on Sunday.

Although it had been suggested that the Rapide may be the production version of Skoda's MissionL concept that was show in Frankfurt last month, this doesn't seem to be the case.

Instead, the Rapid, which borrows its name from the rear-engine Skoda coupe of the mid-late 1980s, is a rebadged version of the Indian market VW Vento, otherwise known as the Polo sedan.

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