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Audi supercar not yet approved, R4 not quite dead, still room for an MPV

According to a report by Autocar, all we thought we knew of the in-development Audi supercar we might not actually know. A piece in Car and Driver, not even a month old, said the diesel-hybrid halo car was in the design stages, would get the engine from the R18 E-Tron Quattro and its carbon fiber tub. Now we get word that that while the coupe is indeed being designed, it hasn't yet been signed off and there's no business case for it yet. Said business case, whenever it is built, is also dubious of the diesel aspect of the car at the moment - diesels aren't known for creating Pavlovian purchase responses in buyers in the two key markets of the US and China.
The report suggests that instead of a diesel, the 2014 Le Mans regulations changes "could swing the favour back towards petrol models," which would give the so-called Scorpion a better tie to racing technology. Of course, that also assumes that Audi would contest next year's Le Mans with a gas-powered car. If so, that would be an about-face on the original reasons for the halo sportscar in the first place.
In other news, seems Audi also believes it can slot another sportscar below the R8, it just needs to get the financials sorted. The R4 - a Porsche Boxster-sized roadster - that has been chattered about for years is still in on the table but appears a long way off. Company R&D chief Wolfgang Durheimer said it would need to be mid-engined and bring plenty of tech to separate itself from the TT, but mass-market price point is the catch as is the focus on other segments in the portfolio.

Audi builds 3-millionth A3

About a month after Volkswagen celebrated building its 30-millionth example of the Golf, Audi has announced that it has produced three million versions of its small hatchback, the closely related Audi A3. Probably more surprising than the fact that the A3 has moved in such big numbers since its global debut in 1996 is the fact that it has done so with relatively little support in the US, seeing marginal sales in the States since 2005.
The three-millionth A3 was a Sportback TDI model, but the lineup has grown this year to include a new sedan and S3 model, and the hybrid A3 E-tron is on the way. With these new models - especially the sedan in the US - we expect the A3 to continue to be a popular entrant in the premium small segment. Scroll down for Audi's official press release.

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.