2008 Audi A4 Quattro Avant Wagon 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Audi claims America unfairly pushes electrics over diesels, backed by survey

Audi, in case you haven't noticed, is quite committed to diesel technology. It champions oil burners in both the racing world and to consumers, offering American customers a total of five diesel-powered models, which is more than any brand in the US market save for its parent company, Volkswagen. In a bid to prove that diesels aren't some passing trend and are actually gaining momentum in the US, Audi commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a poll of 1,600 American drivers, to see how they felt about diesel power. The resulting statistics are rather surprising.
57 percent of the 1,629 drivers surveyed think the government has unfairly favored hybrids and electrics over diesel power
65 percent of drivers support laws being passed to make diesel more accessible, while 66 percent support tax incentives for diesel-powered vehicles

A magical, disappearing ad for the hydrogen Audi A7 Sportback H-Tron

It's not quite Tupac appearing at Coachella with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre in hologram form, but it'll do for the gearhead set. Audi is looking to make a first impression for its A7 Sportback H-Tron hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle by making as little of an impression as possible. Like the car itself, Audi has, as it says in a video, "created ads that leave behind nothing but vaporized water." Pretty slick. Audi worked with German advertising agency Thjnk, on the campaign, which uses LED lighting and other bits of magic to first show an image of the sedan and then show it disappearing into a cloud of steam, according to Adweek. The publication posted Audi's 58-second video on the campaign (we've embedded a German version of the video for those looking to practice a bit of linguistics). The German automaker first revealed details about the A7 Sportback H-Tron late last year. The all-wheel-drive sedan can go as far as 31 miles on electricity alone. And the hydrogen fuel-cell drivetrain delivers almost 400 pound-feet of torque and a full (hydrogen) tank's range of 311 miles as well as a 0-62 mile per hour time of less than eight seconds and a top speed of 112 mph. Featured Gallery Audi A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro View 83 Photos News Source: Adweek via Hybrid Cars Green Marketing/Advertising Audi Hydrogen Cars billboard adweek

Automakers paying Chinese dealers for lower-than-expected sales

The Chinese dealers vs. foreign manufacturers story won't quit. It began with a story on the struggles faced by FAW-Toyota joint venture dealers, with supposedly 95 percent of the showrooms losing money, and 10 percent of them doing so poorly that they'd have to exit the business. The problem is mandated sales targets, most set when the country's economy was racing. Now that things have slowed, China's dealers are swimming in unsold cars and the costs to keep them. In the case of FAW-Toyota, dealers asked Toyota to hand over 2.2 billion yuan ($355 million) to help address the situation. That was followed by a report noting the issues that Honda, BMW, and Nissan dealers are having with the same issue, revealing that the Chinese Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) had taken the highly unusual step of writing to the Chinese government to complain. Now Reuters reports that CADA is not only pressing its case even harder, it's being open about it: it announced that BMW agreed to pay dealers 5.1 billion yuan ($820 million) to alleviate poor profits last year. Unnamed sources said Audi has thrown 2 billion yuan into the kitty for subsidies, and Daimler has contributed "about 1 billion yuan" to its dealers. The battle isn't just about 2014, but how business will be run in 2015 as well: Chinese Porsche dealers have requested the automaker lower its 2015 target of 64,000 cars, which would be a 40-percent increase on its 2014 sales of 46,931 vehicles. One analyst called it "shocking" that the CADA has taken its fight public, while CADA comments continue to imply that dealers have been railroaded to the cliff's edge without recourse. "Due to the difference in status," it's deputy secretary said, "individual dealers are not willing to, or don't dare to, talk frankly with the carmakers...." Both parties need one another, so they'll figure out a way to make it work – but that could mean acknowledging the Chinese market is behaving more like a mature one, not an emerging one. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Earnings/Financials Audi BMW Porsche Toyota Car Dealers Luxury