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Audi TT Offroad gets the green light

The TT family already has a coupe and convertible, with various engines available in each. But over the past year or so, Audi has been toying with the idea of expanding the range with another bodystyle. And now the latest report from Car confirms that Ingoldtadt has given the production go-ahead to the TT Offroad concept. Unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show last year, the yellow TT Offroad concept envisioned a high-riding five-door crossover form with trademark TT styling cues. It was preceded by the blue three-door Allroad Shooting Brake concept at the Detroit show and followed by the sleek, red five-door TT Sportbrake concept at the Paris salon later the same year, but the impracticality of both those show cars is what we understand prompted Audi to go with the Offroad concept instead. So if it's a crossover, why not badge it with the letter Q, you ask? Because Fiat, that's why. The Italian automaker owns the names Q2 and Q4, which it has used on a variety of models (particularly Alfa Romeos and Maseratis) to connote their traction system. And though the Volkswagen Group has asked nicely, Sergio Marchionne has been as reluctant to give his biggest rivals a leg up as he has been to part with Alfa Romeo, despite their repeated advances. As a result, word has it that the production version of the TT Offroad concept will be sold as the TTQ, which kinda makes us giggle, but it would at least provide a nomenclature bridge between the TT and Q families within Audi's lineup. That is, unless Audi marketing chief Luca de Meo manages to convince his former boss to part with the Q2 and/or Q4 labels. Whatever it's called, the production crossover coupe would share similar dimensions to the Q3 when it arrives in 2017, but would potentially stand even further apart from its more utilitarian counterpart than the BMW X4 does from the X3 on which it is based.

Mercedes could make EV batteries with Audi, BMW

It's not a big leap from digital maps to batteries, it turns out.The head of Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler said recently that he envisions his company working together with German automotive competitors BMW and Volkswagen to further accelerate electric-vehicle battery technology. The three automakers recently worked together to enhance their in-car maps systems. Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche talked about "commonalities" between automakers, not the least of which is the need for all of them to achieve increasingly stringent fuel-economy requirements in the European Union, at the Frankfurt Auto Show last week, according to Reuters. While these companies have made their own inroads as far as plug-in vehicles go, they are all behind the Renault-Nissan Alliance when it comes to public deployment of electric vehicles. This summer, Daimler, Audi and BMW hooked up to acquire the Nokia Here digital-mapping service for about $2.8 billion. The triad of automakers beat out companies such as Apple and Uber to buy the entity, which was founded in 1986 as Navteq. Nokia bought the company in 2007. The acquisition makes sense as the automakers work on improving their products with features like cloud-based data to warn drivers of icy roads and traffic jams. The technology will likely also eventually be used in autonomous vehicles. Automakers working together for a common goal of improved technology is nothing new, of course. General Motors and Honda agreed in 2013 to work together to accelerate hydrogen fuel-cell drivetrain development. Earlier that same year, Daimler said it would work with Ford and Nissan in a separate collaboration to speed up the development of hydrogen fuel-cell technology. Related Video:

Audi service tech joyrides customer car, allegedly takes drugs on the way [UPDATE]

UPDATE: We've received and added an official statement from Audi Palo Alto. Dealerships get a bad rap. Stories about sleazy salespeople and overpriced service procedures abound, even though the reality is that most dealers are run by and employ honest, fair folks. But just because the bulk of dealers and their employees are good people, it doesn't mean some bad eggs won't slip through the cracks. Audi Palo Alto, in the heart of Silicon Valley, is finding this out the hard way after dash cam video of a service tech abusing a customer's car started blowing up on YouTube. In the video, which you can watch above, the unnamed service tech took YouTube user Carrera Chris's Audi – it's not clear what model, but it sounds like one of the company's higher-performance 3.0-liter, supercharged V6 models – for a rather spirited test drive. There are plenty of wide-open-throttle runs mixed in with some speeding – the dash cam's lower display shows 90 miles per hour at one point on the freeway – and you can hear the driver laughing throughout. None of this is too remarkable on its own, and maybe not enough to get the tech fired. Until, that is, he pulls into a parking lot and begins snorting something. The dash cam doesn't show the technician, so it's impossible to determine what substance – if any – the driver is allegedly taking. It could be coke, could be crushed up pills, or, hey, it could be a prescription nasal spray (it is allergy season, even in perpetually lovely northern California). Carrera Chris does say he found white powder in the seams of the driver's seat, so take that for what it's worth. There are five videos that include 12 minutes of footage – the one up top is a summary, while the four below show the alleged drug use and some more mundane footage. We've reached out to Audi Palo Alto's general manager, Jason Mattia. He wouldn't answer our questions over the phone, but did forward an official statement from the dealer. An unfortunate incident was brought to our attention earlier this week. We immediately began our investigation and have already taken action. We are working with the customer involved and have thanked them for bringing this matter to our attention. At Audi Palo Alto, we are proud to be a part of the San Jose community. We value and respect our customers, and our team of 75 employees strives to deliver the highest level of customer service.