With the dollar’s current weakness against the Euro, Pound and other foreign currency, many European automakers have decided that the US is too big of a market to give up due to poor currency exchange rates. So, why not reverse the problem and start building cars stateside for super cheap and sell them in Europe where the currency is as strong as ever. Audi, VW and a few other brands have decided to open production facilities here in the US to offset the current currency disparity. Where this will leave them in a few years when the Dollar recovers is anyone’s guess, but with a greater value to the US Dollar, this will lead people to buy more cars and in turn, the car makers will export less cars to Europe and just sell them in the USA to prevent what’s happening now when cars are built in Europe and sold in the states.

Source: AutoBlog

Weighing just 660lbs (the current average car is around 3500lbs) and with a drag coefficient of .16 (current average of around .30), the VW One-Liter Concept Car takes just 1L of gasoline to move 100km. This converts into 235MPG.

The two passenger car has anti-lock brakes, stability control and airbags. According to the magazine Canadian Driver, “Volkswagen says the One-Liter Car is as safe as a GT sports car registered for racing. With the aid of computer crash simulations, the car was designed with built-in crash tubes, pressure sensors for airbag control and front crumple zones.”

The car will be sold in limited production as early as 2010. Originally slated for 2012, the dramatic cost drop of carbon fiber in the past few years has brought the car into economic feasibility (about $55,000) much sooner than anticipated. As a daily commuter car, I can’t think of something more reasonable and practical, yet still novel and pretty cool!

Source: Wired