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The Volkswagen Group is attempting to expand its market-setting pace into the world of electric vehicles. As the second-largest automotive producer on the planet and with 9 plug-in models already in production, who is to say where the Volkswagen Group will stop.  As Tesla continues their exploration of the electric car world, they have expressed interest in increasing sales from 51,000 sales this year to 500,000 in 2018 and 1,000,000 sales in 2020.  The Volkswagen Group is already on pace to sell 10 million units this year.  VW's presence and potential in the electric vehicle market cannot be overlooked or easily dismissed. Recently, VW has hinted at further developing their MEB platform, a chassis that allows the car batteries to be placed in the center of the car's floor.  This would potentially allow up to 310 miles of driving before requiring a recharge. To meet this increase in demand for batteries, VW has considered building its own battery factory, costing north of $11 billion, to combat the "Gigafactory" established by Tesla. In reality, VW presence in the electric vehicle market is still relatively small.  VW is set to produce around 12,100 e-Golfs and 13,400 Golf GTE,  and a total of 100,000 electric vehicle unites by the end of the year. VW has the potential and the vision to quickly change the electric vehicle market as we know it. http://www.hybridcars.com/can-volkswagen-reinvent-itself-with-many-more-electrified-cars/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4LifiYMpmY

There are so many fun things to do during the summer and there is no place like Burlington. There are so many  fun activities, museums and festivals to go to, the possibilities are endless in the Burlington area. Below are a few fun summer things that should be on everyone's to do list this summer!. Every Saturday during the summer the Burlington Farmers Market is held outside at City Hall Park on Saint Paul street right in the middle of downtown Burlington from 8:30am - 2pm. Enjoy lots of local vendors selling all kinds of homemade products, produce, artisan cheese and much more!. The Big League right at home. Baseball is a summer time favorite but you don’t need to make the long drive down to Boston or New York to see some great ball being played this summer. The Vermont Lake Monsters are a single A Short-Season Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics playing at the historic Centennial Field. http://www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t462. School may be out but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn something new this summer. The ECHO Center is located on the Burlington waterfront, overlooking beautiful Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains. There are 70 species of live animals in pristine water displays, 100+ interactive exhibits and activities daily, plus animal feedings and more. http://www.echovermont.org/. Get out on the water and enjoy Lake Champlain this summer! One of the best ways to do that is on a paddle board. The stand up surfing is a great family activity for all ages and skill levels. Paddlesurf Champlain offers rentals, lessons and guided tours from Oakledge Park and Beach. http://paddlesurfchamplain.com/Stand_Up_Paddle_SUP_Vermont.html#Guided_tours

Congratulations! You did it! You studied hard, stayed up all night, and now graduation is finally here! Volkswagen wants to help you celebrate with a special that is just for you, $500 Bonus. Stop in any time after graduation and find a brand new ride to take you to that big job interview.  Must be within six months of graduation or have graduated no more than 24 months prior to the date of his/her credit application, from a 2 or 4 year accredited U.S. or Canadian college or university with one of the following degrees: Associate's; Bachelor's; Master's ;Doctoral Nursing degree.

Spring cleaning for your Volkswagen in 5 Steps! Declutter the interior. Chances are good that some junk mail, old Christmas gift receipts, and other garbage has started to pile up inside your car. It happens. Now is the time to toss it. Vacuum the carpets and floor mats. All those days of snow (and the salt to combat it), rain, and muddy boots can build up on your carpet and floor mats. Vacuum it up, and if it is really bad, consider giving it a scrub with car-safe carpet cleaner. Wash your car. Whether you visit a car wash or do it yourself, giving the exterior a good scrubbing will remove dirt and grime that has built up over the brutal winter. Don’t forget to clean the inside of the windows, too, for they have also endured a lot this winter. Clean windows mean a clean line of vision. Replace the windshield wipers. That wintry precipitation can really take a toll on windshield wipers. They should be replaced about every six months anyway, and now is a good time to do so. Check the tires. The fluctuating temperatures and the rough road conditions of winter can wreak havoc on tires. Make sure they are properly inflated, and take your car in to have them rotated if need be

Who started Earth Day? A peace activist in the San Francisco, California area named John McConnell proposed a day to honor the planet beginning in 1970; however, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin was inspired to take action and get the government officially involved in honoring our planet after the appalling oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. When a Union Oil platform had a blowout, nearly 100,000 barrels of oil were dumped into the Pacific Ocean. Thousands of marine animals died as a result, and the coastline was greatly impacted. With the assistance of Congressman Pete McCloskey and Denis Hayes from Harvard, Senator Nelson succeeded in making April 22, 1970 the first Earth Day, with the intention of teaching everyone about how to be more aware of our environment. 5 ways to drive more eco-friendly We all can play a role in protecting the environment by getting into certain habits each day, including while we are driving. Here is a quick list of eco-friendly driving habits to practice. Keep the tires inflated at the recommended pressure. Reduce excess weight and travel as lightly as possible. Carpool with others, if possible. Try to drive during off-hours if you can so you won’t be stuck in a traffic jam. Use cruise control on highways. Many of these habits amount to ensuring a higher fuel economy, which will also save you money in addition to helping the environment by not using up as much fuel. We only have one chance at this planet, so we have to keep it as clean as we can!

March 7th through March 13th is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week! Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, specifically the central nervous system. In humans, the nervous system is made up of the brain, spinal cord and nerves. MS is a chronic and often disabling disease where symptoms vary greatly from person to person; they can be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. Vermont continues to have the highest prevalence per capita of people with MS, as one on 400 Vermonters have been diagnosed. This month help build awareness and help support those who are affected by this disease! Raise Awareness & Get Involved: 2016 Vermont MS Walks Burlington, April 2, Burlington High School Montpelier, May 14, Montpelier High School Rutland, May 14, Rutland High School Upper Valley, May 14, Hartford high School St. Johnsbury, September 24, St. Johnsbury School Bike MS: Green Mountain Getaway Saturday, August 6, 2016 Burlington, VT Make A Donation: Support an Event Participant Donate Online Give in Honor or Memory

Help us build awareness and show support for Rare Disease Day on Monday, February 29th. Rare Disease Day takes place the last day of February each year and it is a day dedicated to bringing widespread recognition of the challenges faced by people living with rare diseases. What is a Rare Disease? In the United States, any disease that affects fewer than 200,000 people is considered rare. There are nearly 7,000 rare diseases impacting nearly 30 million Americans -- that's about 1 in every 10 people. Challenges that all patients and families affected by rare diseases share: Devastating medical problems & symptoms Difficulty getting a clear diagnosis Limited availability of information on their condition Limited or no treatment options Feeling alone or isolated There are over 6,000 Rare Diseases and for most there is no cure or approved treatments. Show your support by liking the Rare Disease Day Facebook page and following the Twitter feed where we encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences — because together we can make a difference. Learn more about Rare Disease Day at www.rarediseaseday.us Below is the official global video for Rare Disease Day 2016: Make the voice of rare diseases heard!

This week is Random Act of Kindness Week! Throughout the week Shearer Volkswagen's employees will be doing Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) and we encourage you to join in and spread the love and kindness. KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS! Here are a few suggestions on things you could do: Tweet or Facebook message a genuine compliment to 3 people right now Bring doughnuts (or a healthy treat, like cut-up fruit) to work Cook a meal for a friend If you walk by a car with an expired parking meter, put a quarter in it. Offer a homeless person your leftovers bag from the restaurant Leave a nice server the biggest tip you can afford Be the person who puts a tip in the tip jar at the coffee shop Give someone a hug Send anonymous flowers to someone Play board games with senior citizens at a nursing home Purchase some extra cat or dog food and drop it off at an animal shelter Buy something for the person in line behind you Put gas in someone’s car Make two lunches and give one away Say yes at the store when the cashier asks if you want to donate $1 to whichever cause. Volunteer at a food bank Pet or babysit for free Be a designated driver Let them merge Smile at 10 Strangers Let someone go in front of you in line Make cookies for someone else Buy someone their groceries Tell us about your Random Act of Kindness on our Facebook wall and continue to spread the love!

January is National Soup Month and there is no better way to warm up your belly on a cold winter's day than a cup or bowl of soup. Where did the word "soup" come from: "Our modern word "soup" derives from the Old French word sope and soupe. The French word was used in England in the in the form of sop at the end of the Middle Ages and, fortunately, has remained in the English language in its original form and with much its original sense. We say "fortunately" because it is clear that nowadays a "sop" is not a "soup." The distinction is important. When cooks in the Middle Ages spoke of "soup," what they and the people for whom they were cooking really understood was a dish comprising primarily a piece of bread or toast soaked in a liquid or over which a liquid had been poured. The bread or toast was an important, even vital, part of this dish. It was a means by which a diner could consume the liquid efficiently by sopping it up. The bread or toast was, in effect, an alternative to using a spoon...Soups were important in the medieval diet, but the dish that the cook prepared was often a soup that consisted of both nutritious liquid and the means to eat it. The meal at the end of a normal day was always the lighter of the two meals of the day, and the sop appears to have had an important place in it. In fact it was precisely because of the normal inclusion of a sop in this end-of-the-day meal that it became called "souper" or "supper." ---Early French Cookery, D. Eleanor Scully & Terence Scully 1995 (p. 102) What type of soup is your favorite? Here are some of our favorites here at Shearer Volkswagen: Beef Stew Chili Potato Leek Broccoli Cheddar Cheddar Ale Tomato Bisque

Ingredients: 2 pounds cubed beef stew meat 3  tablespoons vegetable oil 4 cubed beef bouillon, crumbled 4 cups water 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 teaspoon dried parsley 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed 4 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces 4 stalks celery, cut in 1 inch pieces 1 large onion, chopped 2 teaspoons cornstarch 2 teaspoons cold water Directions: In a large pot or dutch oven, cook beef in oil over medium heat until brown. Dissolve bouillon in water and pour into pot. Stir in rosemary, parsley and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour. Stir potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion into the pot. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 teaspoons cold water and stir into stew. Cover and simmer 1 hour more.

Ingredients: 2 pounds ground beef 2 onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons chili powder 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoon dried oregano 4 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid Directions: Combine ground beef, onion, and garlic in large stockpot. Cook and stir over medium heat until beef is brown. Drain. Stir in chili powder, salt, oregano, tomatoes, and tomato sauce; break up tomatoes while stirring. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Stir in beans. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes; stir occasionally.

Ingredients: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 leeks, white and light green parts only, roughly chopped 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into 1/2-inch pieces 7 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth (best quality such as Swanson) 2 bay leaves 1 sprig fresh thyme, plus more for garnish if desired 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 cup heavy cream Chives, finely chopped (optional) Directions: Melt the butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until soft and wilted, about 10 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary so as not to brown. Add the potatoes, stock, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper to pot and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft. Fish out the thyme sprig and bay leaves, then purée the soup with a hand-held immersion blender until smooth. (Alternatively, use a standard blender to purée the soup in batches; see note.) Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If soup is too thin, simmer until thickened. If it's too thick, add water or stock to thin it out. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired. Note: If using a standard blender to purée the soup: be sure not to fill the jar more than halfway; leave the hole in the lid open and cover loosely with a dishtowel to allow the heat to escape; and pour blended soup into a clean pot.