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VW offers to buy back new diesels if bans introduced

By Maria Sheahan FRANKFURT, Germany — Volkswagen will buy back new diesel cars if German cities ban them, it said on Thursday, seeking to reassure potential buyers and stem a plunge in sales of diesel vehicles. Europe's biggest automaker also said it would extend incentives for buyers of new diesel cars. The moves come after a German court ruled last month that cities in the country could ban the most polluting diesel vehicles from their streets. Many German cities exceed European Union limits on atmospheric nitrogen oxide, known to cause respiratory diseases. Fears of bans have led to a plunge in demand for diesel vehicles, which are also key to carmakers' attempts to meet new EU rules on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. While diesel cars are heavily criticized for emitting nitrogen oxide, they spew out less CO2 than gasoline equivalents. Diesel car sales plunged 19 percent in Germany last month. At its core VW brand, Volkswagen said its buyback offer applied to new diesels bought between April 1 and the end of 2018 and would kick in if the city in which the buyer lived or worked banned diesels within three years of the purchase. It said its dealerships would buy back diesel vehicles affected by bans at their current value if their owners at the same time bought a new vehicle that was not affected by cities' driving restrictions. At Czech brand Skoda, the guarantee applies to cars bought between April 1 and the end of June, but will cover bans introduced within four years of the purchase date. At premium brand Audi, the offer only covers leased vehicles. Volkswagen also said it was extending to the end of June incentives for customers trading in older diesels for new ones. Fellow German carmaker BMW said earlier this month it would offer to take back leased vehicles if diesels were banned within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the operator's home or place of work. There has been a global backlash against diesel-engine cars since Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to cheating U.S. exhaust tests. But Germany's government is seeking to avoid widespread bans on heavily polluting diesel vehicles, which companies say could cut the resale value of up to 15 million vehicles in Europe's biggest car market. In Germany, where motorists expect to drive powerful cars on motorways with no speed limits, any restrictions will be unpopular.

Audi reveals revised RS5 DTM for 2014

There existed an era in German touring car racing between when the DTM series was revived in 2000 and when BMW rejoined in 2012. During that twelve-season span, the wins were pretty evenly divided between Audi and Mercedes-Benz, the only two manufacturers who took part. Audi won six drivers' titles in that time and Mercedes won six (although Benz won considerably more constructors' titles).
Now that BMW is back in the race, though, it's an entirely different game. BMW has won the lion's share of the races in the past two seasons, taking both titles in 2012 and the constructors' title last season. The winning driver last season, though, was driving the RS5, making Audi the only one that really stands a chance of putting up a fight against BMW. It undoubtedly hopes to extend that challenge in the coming season, and this is the car with which it aims to do so.
Taking on the Mercedes-AMG C-Class Coupe DTM and the new BMW M4 DTM will be the revised RS5 DTM you see here. Bearing a stronger resemblance to the road-going RS5 you can buy, Audi's new DTM challenger benefits from a revised aero package with more streamlined side mirrors, closed rear wheel arches and reprofiled side sills. The V8 engine carries over (much as it did from the previous A4 DTM and A5 DTM) with 456 horsepower driving the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox.

Audi dealer roof collapses, 20 cars crash into workshop [w/video]

The roof over a car dealership in the UK collapsed on Monday, leaving as many as 20 vehicles buried in the rubble. According to the Guardian, the incident occurred at around noon yesterday at the Audi dealership in Milton Keynes – a town of about 250,000 in Buckinghamshire that you may recognize as the home base for Red Bull Racing as well as Honda's F1 engine ship. (It's also where companies like Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Suzuki have placed their UK offices.) Workers in the service department reportedly heard a bang, then evacuated the building before the roof gave way. The section of roof that collapsed apparently serves as a multi-story parking structure at the back corner of the workshop. Firefighters responded to the scene, but fortunately no one was reported to have been injured in the incident.