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Mercedes considering Audi Allroad rival

The Audi Allroad is something of an anomaly in the automotive world. Its competitors are limited to the recently released Volvo V60 Cross Country and perhaps the far cheaper Subaru Outback. The lifted premium wagon hasn't exactly done great for Audi, only selling a few hundred examples each month. Its best sales year was 2013, and even then, only 5,300 left US showrooms. Despite these limited prospects, word from Australia is that Mercedes-Benz is looking at launching its own competitor to the Allroad. "We are looking at every single niche, so we are studying this [Allroad] at the moment, but it is not confirmed," Matthias Luhrs, VP of sales and a member of the product management at MB, told Motoring.com.au. "We are looking obviously at C-Class and E-Class, but no confirmation at the moment." Fortunately, Luhrs recognizes that the Allroad isn't exactly a smash in the US. "In the US, no matter how long, short, high ... they don't like station wagons," Luhrs said, while adding that the Allroad concept is "developing quite successfully" in Italy and southern Europe. And for those hoping for a lifted C- or E-Class sedan, Luhrs also put the kibosh on that, saying, "We are not studying that." So what does this tell us? Well, it's still far from a sure thing that Mercedes will launch a lifted C-Class or E-Class Estate. And even if the company does go ahead with it, like the rest of the brand's long roofs (E-Class aside), don't expect to see it on US roads.

New Audi Sport Quattro Laserlight geeks out with mad lumens

It's safe to say that, at least as far as automotive companies go, Audi's Sport Quattro Laserlight concept car is stealing the show here at CES in Las Vegas. The car's 700-horsepower hybrid powertrain and carbon-fiber bodywork mean that it would go like stink if it were ever allowed to turn a wheel, and the shapely coupe stance looks every inch the part of a modern-day super coupe, too. Better yet, the laser-powered headlamps that are the crowning glory of the concept car are actually slated for production at some point in the not-distant future.
We're talking about lasers here, folks. I don't know about you, but if you had told the 10-year-old, Real Genius-watching version of me that there'd one day be a car with lasers for headlights, well, I'd have wanted one of those things, pretty bad.
Anyway, Audi's lasers may not be able to ignite a giant pack of Jiffy Pop from space, but they are set to be the new standard for illumination on the road. The laser lights are nearly three times as bright and beam twice as far as current, top-notch LED high beams and were called "safer, sharper and more efficient" compared with existing technologies. That "safer" part works on two levels: the brighter beams offer far better visibility, naturally, but Audi also tells us that they won't dazzle oncoming drivers like traditional high beams will. That means you can drive with the maximum illumination at all times. Cool stuff, here at CES.

Audi Prologue Concept [w/videos]

What you're looking at here is a preview of Audi's next-gen exterior and interior design. You can't tell, but in these photos, I'm wearing what can only be described as an ultra-white cloth spacesuit. Before opening the large driver's door of the Audi Prologue concept outside of the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, Audi requested that I don a super-attractive onesie so as to not let my flannel-covered human flesh touch the untreated leather surfaces of the Prologue's interior. I tied the spacesuit around me just above the waist, let my Converse poke out the footholes, and promised to hold in any sneezes. After all, I was being granted a serious privilege. I was about to drive the multi-million dollar, only-one-in-the-world Prologue that had just stunned crowds at the Los Angeles Auto Show days earlier. This isn't the first time Audi has bravely let the media sample its conceptual wares. In 2010, the German automaker granted us access to its incredibly enticing Quattro concept, probably hoping that the media would rave about the thing enough to convince the higher powers to actually green-light and build it. (We're still waiting on that one, of course.) You could argue that this same logic was applied when allowing me to drive the Prologue – it's no secret that Audi has been dreaming of a range-topping A9, though company officials told me that there is currently no decision on whether or not to produce such a car. But that's not really what the Prologue is about. As its name suggests, what you're looking at here is a preview of Audi's next-generation exterior and interior design, in a fully baked, fully functional package. Suit up, and behold the future. While the Prologue won't necessarily spawn its own production model, its elements will be incorporated on the next A6, A7 and A8. "Timeless but progressive." That's the key takeaway of the Prologue's aesthetic, according to exterior designer Parys Cybulski. The focus here is on beautiful, yet modern, simplicity. A design that looks both contemporary and forward-thinking at the same time, and something that will still look up-to-date in several years' time. After all, while the Prologue won't necessarily spawn its own production model, its elements will be incorporated on the next A6, A7 and A8. Up front, the most prominent feature is, of course, Audi's single-frame grille, seen here with a larger breadth than anything else in the brand's lineup, though its closest resemblance is seen on the new TT.