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Volkswagen
Volkswagen Group is one of the largest automakers on Earth, operating 106 factories in 27 countries and building everything from motorcycles to commercial vehicles. However, it saved something very special to celebrate its latest production milestone. During VW's preview night ahead of the
2014 Paris Motor Show, the company showed off the frankly amazing
XL Sport concept and announced that it was the 200-millionth vehicle ever built by the group.
In its release, VW claims that the XL Sport "symbolizes the innovative power and passion of the brand," but when it comes down to it, the vehicle just looks cool as the high performance evolution of the super-efficient
XL1. The Sport ditches everything to do with fuel economy in favor of a 197-horsepower, V-twin engine from a
Ducati 1199 Superleggera and seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. All that grunt, in an already light car allows for a claimed sprint to 62 miles per hour in 5.8 seconds and a top speed of 168 miles per hour. Unfortunately, because the XL Sport is a concept for now, it may never see the road.
Perhaps even more surprising, it took VW Group until 1999 to reach the 100-million vehicle mark with a
New Beetle. Getting to 200 million only required about another 15 years to accomplish. In that time, the company acquired
Porsche and expanded heavily in China, among other business moves.
"This impressive figure also bears witness to our customers' confidence in the Group," said VW Group Chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn during the ceremony. He also presented a donation of 200,000 euros to French actress Catherine Deneuve for her charity the Cinema for Peace Foundation. Scroll down to read VW's full release.
Continue reading XL Sport was 200-millionth VW produced
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03-10-2014, 01:10 PM
