The Jetta is a Golf with a boot.
Save the picture down, open it in Photoshop and go to FILE - FILE INFO - CAMERA DATA 1
This shows you all the information you need about how the picture was taken and what camera/lens/aperture/shutter speed/ISO...
Canon 40D
12mm focul length
Shutter speed 1.250th sec
f/8
ISO 100
Aperture priority
To get the correect exposure on the sky he may have used a graduated neutral density filter or used the IMAGE - ADJUSTMENTS - SHADOW/HIGHLIGHTS function in Photoshop CS2/CS3.
Pictures are very well composed.
I think it's more likely he shot it in RAW and then used several different layers of the shot with different exposures and combined them as the range in that shot is out of scope for most image sensors. I don't think he used a ND grad either as the low lights in the foreground are correctly exposed as well as the sky.
As you say though, great composition and the data shows he used a lens that is reasonably wide on a 40D
Nick
Ahhh High Dynamic Range or HDR is a function introduced in CS2 where you set the camera up on a tripod and take 3 or more pictures of varying exposures (sky, foreground, middleground...etc) and then let Photoshop merge them into a HDR image. This solves a lot of panoramic/landscape pictures that have lots of shadows in the foreground and bright sky. Normal photos would either have:
1) Sky percfectly exposed and the foreground underexposed or
2) The foreground perfectly exposed but the sky overexposed or burnt out
HDR images resolves this age old problem.