This is The Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place every weekday morning. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parse it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?
1st Gear: A New Golf, Already?
The 2015 VW Golf is just launching here in the US after being on sale in Europe for a few years. Yes, we're a bit behind, as per usual. But here's the craziness: Apparently it's time for a new Golf, again.
Reports from Germany state that a brand new VW Golf is on its way in 2017 that will look totally different from the current model. It'll be lower and wider with an array of new safety features. This means that an all new car, not a facelift of the Gen VII Golf, would be released just five years after Europe got the car. And just two years after we got the car.
It seems a little suspect that a model cycle would be so short, especially with the success of the Gen VII Golf. Time will tell just how correct/stabbing for attention this report was.
2nd Gear: Long Term Car Loans Are Helping Sell Cars
In a little analysis from The Detroit News, it seems that longer term car loans are helping the wee auto sales boom we're currently enjoying. It's also letting people step up to a bigger car while barely putting out more money.
The thing is, these loans aren't like four or five years. We're talking six or seven years with financing near five percent. This means that cars are more accessible to more people, which is a good thing, but it also means that these cars will be on the road for a long time. By the time the loans are paid off, they'll be just a few years short of the max lifespan of cars out there now.
So keep that in mind when you sign for an extended seven year loan.
3rd Gear: Infiniti Says All The Eau Rouge Are Belong To Us
Infiniti wants to own the name Eau Rouge in the USA. This means that they want to have it for the high performance version of the Q50. This is a good thing, see, cause the Q50 Eau Rouge has GT-R power and looks pretty great. Way better than a regular Q50.
The issue is that Spa, the race track that has the Eau Rouge corner, has a very strong argument to make money off of every Eau Rouge sold. The trademark application is still under consideration by the US office.
4th Gear: AMG Goes The M Sport Route And Now We're Confused
In the past, the German automakers had very clear hierarchy of their fastest cars. But then came the idea of using a name similar to the fastest cars to signify a car that was almost the fastest. S-Line is like an Audi S car, but not as quick. BMW has M-Sport, Cadillac has V-Sport, and now Mercedes will be offering mid-level AMG cars.
This will start with a C450 AMG that is planned to debut at the Paris show. It'll slot in above the C400 but below the C63, which means it'll be faster than a C400 but not as a good as a new C63. Get it? Got it? Good.
Good?
5th Gear: Can't Afford A Mustang? Get A T-Shirt.
Just an FYI for you car gear junkies: There are a few new Mustang T-Shirts going out tomorrow. Just 5,000 were made. If you purchase these shirts, the people around you will know that you don't actually own a Mustang.
Reverse
The German race car driver Michael Schumacher makes his Formula One (Europe's top racing circuit) debut in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps on this day in 1991.
[HISTORY]
Neutral
Will VW actually be building a new Golf, or is this malarkey?