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Is Volkswagen set to pull out of the BlueTec alliance?

German publication, WirtschaftsWoche, has released a story suggesting that Volkswagen may be about to walk out of the BlueTec alliance with DaimlerChrysler. The story published on 4 August 2007 states that VW will market its diesel vehicles in the US under its TDI mark rather than BlueTec.

The reason put forward in the article is that VW feels BlueTec is too heavily associated with the Mercedes brand. This is probably true. VW has yet to release a clean diesel vehicle in the US. Its first vehicle is a year away from launch. The Mercedes E320 was launched this year - with much fanfare - under the BlueTec banner, while VWs conventional diesel offerings in the US continue to carry the TDI brand. VW subsidiary Audi would be expected to follow its parent company out of the BlueTec alliance.

There has been no comment from VW, who has yet to confirm or deny this story. WirtschaftsWoche expects there to be a souring in relations between Wolfsburg and Stuttgart, as VW will effectively be using Mercedes BlueTec technology without crediting the Stuttgart based automaker. Indeed it is unclear whether current agreements allow VW to use the BlueTec technology under an in-house brand.

This entry was written by Alistair Wallace and posted on 7 Aug 2007
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