Wheels Blog: Wheelies: The Global Domination Edition

Sean Gallup/Getty Images VW trunk ornaments at the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany.

In which we bring you motoring news from around the Web:

• The Volkswagen Group has said it wants to be the world’s top carmaker. To do that, it will need to recruit a virtual army of new employees. The company expects to double production, swelling its ranks by 50,000 people over the next several years. Most of Volkswagen’s growth is likely to occur in China, where it is poised to supplant General Motors as the top seller. (autoblog.com)

• According to automakers, an increase in United States housing prices caused a 3.4 percent rise in March pickup truck and sport utility vehicle sales. Home prices had their biggest 12-month surge since 2006, leading to stronger light truck sales to small companies. Auto industry executives said new financing options had also spurred sales. All told, the increase amounted to more than $15 million in truck sales. (The Chicago Tribune)

• A North Carolina woman went missing for three days after a state trooper found her car in a ditch and ordered it towed away. Authorities eventually found 62-year-old Carolyn Ann Watkins. She was still in her car,  dead. The trooper, who has since been placed on paid administrative duty, did not notice she was there when he wrote his on-scene report, which said, “Note: No driver at the scene of this collision.” (The Associated Press)

• Will Hyundai bring a pickup truck to America? That’s a definite maybe from Lee In-cheol, the company’s vice president for international sales. There is no word on what size the truck will be or when it will be sold, but in light of a recent free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea, the 25 percent Chicken Tax will expire in seven years. That means a foreign built truck in South Korea is a possibility. (autoblog.com)

• Porsche’s updated Panamera is poised to thrust the German automaker into the previously unlikely realm of super-fuel-efficient cars. The company said the new Panamera S E-Hybrid — a plug-in — achieved 76 miles per gallon, compared with the old standard hybrid model’s 31 miles per gallon. While European bureaucrats work out the validity of Porsche’s fuel economy test methods, the horsepower numbers seem real enough. A 316 horsepower, gas-power 3-liter V-6 and a 94 horsepower electric motor can launch the Panamera S E-Hybrid to 62 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds, taking it to a top speed of 168 miles per hour. (Car)