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2017 Audi Q7 starts at $55,750

The second-generation Audi Q7 debuted last winter, and we already drove it in the spring in Europe. Audi, however, kept US pricing for this lighter, more stylish luxury SUV a secret – until now. The 2017 Q7 starts at $55,750 (including the $950-destination charge), and that's over $6,500 more than the $49,225-base cost for the last-gen 2015 model (there was no 2016 version in the US). Buyers get some big updates when they pay the extra cash for the 2017 model. The switch to the MLB platform helps cut 475 pounds, and aluminum suspension components reduce unsprung mass. Audi's Pre Sense City safety system comes standard and can automatically begin braking the seven-passenger SUV if a crash seems imminent below 52 miles per hour. Three-zone automatic climate control and a panoramic sunroof are also on the normal features list. The options include high-tech upgrades like the company's virtual cockpit system, a color head-up display, and a 23-speaker Bang & Olufsen stereo. Audi's 3.0 TFSI V6 with 333 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque and an eight-speed automatic is the only available powertrain combo for the Q7 in the US. Audi originally planned to offer the 3.0-liter TDI V6, but emissions problems nixed that. The second-gen Q7 is available in three trim levels here: Premium, Premium Plus for $59,750, and Prestige for $65,250. Company spokesperson Amelia Fine-Morrison tells Autoblog the first 2017s will arrive at dealers in January. Audi of America announces pricing for the new dynamic and technological benchmark in the luxury SUV segment – the all-new 2017 Audi Q7 November 11, 2015 | HERNDON, Virginia New portfolio of available driver assistance systems includes adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist to help take the stress out of stop and go traffic Sport sedan-like driving experience and space for up to seven passengers, latest technology and exceptional design are just some of the highlights of the all-new Audi Q7, on sale at the beginning of 2016 SUV boasts innovative suite of technologies and connectivity features, including Audi virtual cockpit, Q7 specific app for Android and Apple integration as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration With striking design and lightweight construction, the all-new 2017 Audi Q7 sets a new standard in the luxury SUV segment. The second generation of the seven-passenger SUV also adds benchmark connectivity, infotainment systems and driver assistance technologies.

Winterkorn remains CEO of Volkswagen's majority shareholder

Martin Winterkorn may have stepped down as the chief executive of Volkswagen in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal, but he's not out from under the company's large umbrella just yet. In fact, according to a report from Reuters, he still holds four top-level positions not only within the industrial giant's bureaucracy, but at the top of it. And one of those is as CEO of the company's largest shareholder. That holding company is Porsche SE, the investment arm of the Piech and Porsche families (Ferdinand Porsche's descendants) which holds over 50 percent of VW's shares. In 2008, Porsche SE acquired majority interest in the Volkswagen Group which in turn acquired Porsche the automaker – and placed VW's Winterkorn at the head of the executive board of the holding company. Though Winterkorn has resigned from his position as chairman of VW's management board, he has apparently yet to step down from running Porsche SE. That's not the only job that Winterkorn still retains in VW's senior management. He also continues to serve as chairman of Audi, as well as truck manufacturer Scania, and the new Truck & Bus GmbH into which Scania has been grouped together with Man. It remains unclear if or when Winterkorn might resign from those positions as well, or how his tenure in those posts might affect the company's effort to start over in the aftermath of the scandal in which it is currently embroiled. Also unclear, Reuters reports, is how much, exactly, Winterkorn will receive in compensation after having stepped down from his chair at the head of the VW executive board. His pension is reported at over $30 million, but he could be awarded a large severance package as well amounting to as much as two years' worth of his annual compensation, which amounted to around $18 million last year. Whether he receives the severance pay or not is expected to depend on whether his resignation is considered by the supervisory board to have been the result of his own missteps or independent of the situation that resulted in his resignation. One way or another, he's not likely to go poor anytime soon.

Adam Carolla is world's the least helpful test drive co-pilot

If you were going to test drive a new car, who would you want to take with you? Your spouse? A friend? Maybe an automotive journalist? Well take it from us: there's one of us riding shotgun just about every time we go to drive anything, and we're not all we're cracked up to be.
How about a celebrity comedian? Well, that largely depends on which comedian we're talking about here. Some - say, Jerry Seinfeld or Jay Leno, for example - might be more helpful than others, being more or less schooled in the finer points of the modern automobile. Adam Carolla might seem like he belongs on that list too, but in this latest video for a friends at Edmunds.com, the one-time host of The Car Show on Speed TV seems bent on being as comedically intrusive as possible. Which may be funny, but helpful? Not so much. See what we mean in the video below, and the next time you go to test drive a new car, you just might find the world's most popular podcast host climbing in with you.