There are plenty of reasons to buy a Volkswagen Beetle — it’s round, it’s cheap, it’s good on gas, and it even comes with a little flower vase on the dash. Wait, they don’t do that anymore? No matter, because Volkswagen just gave you one more reason to love the Bug — or perhaps two.
Starting Thursday, Volkswagen is auctioning off a limited-edition pink Beetle for breast cancer awareness. Officially dubbed #PinkBeetle, the vehicle first appeared at the 2015 New York Auto Show and features fuchsia metallic paint and a color-coordinated interior. If the look wasn’t enough to make the car stand out, the #PinkBeetle is actually the first factory-offered vehicle named after its own hashtag.
To help take the fight to breast cancer, VW is partnering with The Pink Agenda, which has raised nearly $2 million for cancer research thus far. The brand is also linking with TV personality Giuliana Rancic’s Fab-U-Wish initiative, which is similar to the Make-a-Wish Foundation but tailored specifically toward women undergoing cancer treatment.
“The timing of the launch of #PinkBeetle makes it a natural tie-in to support the fight against breast cancer,” said Vinay Shahani, senior vice president for marketing at VW of America. “We are proud to team with The Pink Agenda, FAB-U-WISH, and Giuliana Rancic for this cause. Volkswagen is committed to being an active member of the communities where we sell and service products; we hope that auctioning the #PinkBeetle will not only raise awareness for the cause, but also provide much-needed funds to help find a cure.”
The auction’s winner will be the very first to own the #PinkBeetle, but they’ll also get the chance to fly to New York City to attend the Pink Agenda’s Aannual gala. Bids will be accepted at charitybuzz.com/vwpinkbeetle from September 1-22.
If the auction passes you by, fear not because the #PinkBeetle will undergo a limited production run as a 2017 model. The Bug will be offered in both coupe and convertible forms when it goes on sale in October.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.