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VW Taigun Compact SUV heading for production

It was a good-looking and appealing effort from VW to tap in to the very compact SUV market, with a real family look (a Tiguan on a boil wash), peppy little 3-cylinder 1.0 litre engine delivering 108bhp and a 0-62mph of 9.2 seconds (with 60mpg economy) and enough room to carry stuff and people thanks to an extra 50mm in the wheelbase compared to the Up! Now it looks like the Taigun is heading for production after VW’s Chief designer, Klaus Bishoff, told Autoexpress that he deeply believed the Taigun would be heading for VW showrooms very soon, and could be sold in the UK and Europe as well as in emerging markets. So you can add the Taigun to the list of VW’s SUV offerings, and with new versions of the Tiguan and Touareg (perhaps based on the CrossBlue Concept) and a Polo based SUV on the way too, it looks like VW are covering all the bases.

Autoweek in review: What you may have missed

It was a slower week in the newsroom as 2012 winded down. On Monday, we learned how motorcycles were coming back and got some ideas for last-minute holiday gifts. In the racing world, the Trans Am Series announced that it’s expanding the 2013 race schedule.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430 & DB9 Carbon Black & Carbon White Editions: Geneva 2014

The new Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430 (pictured) gets Vantage S power It’s tough having motor shows to attend and nothing new to offer, so car makers tend to deliver a ‘Special Edition’ of an existing model to make it look like they’ve made and effort. Step forward the Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430 and the Aston Martin DB9 Carbon Black & Carbon White Editions. There’s little new on offer, really, with a rehashing of what Aston Martin has produced before as ‘Limited Edition’ cars, with the V8 Vantage N430 continuing the theme of Vantage  ’N’ Editions and the Carbon’ limited edition’ DB9s done before.