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VW and partner SAIC start building $2.5B Audi plant in China

BEIJING — Volkswagen AG's China joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp has started building a $2.5 billion new energy vehicle (NEV) plant in Shanghai, which will make VW's luxury Audi brand cars, a possible first for the venture. The new plant is a key step for Audi to diversify production of its cars in the world's largest car market from its long-standing local partner, China FAW Group Corp. This shift has been delayed amid resistance from local dealers. SAIC Volkswagen said the new plant would have an annual capacity to make 300,000 cars and begin production from 2020. Audi sold 481,387 vehicles in China from January to September this year. The announcement comes the same week Tesla secured a Shanghai location for a Gigafactory battery plant to serve the Chinese market. Audi unveiled the plan to bolster ties with SAIC in late 2016. Earlier this year, the Germany luxury carmaker bought a 1 percent stake in the SAIC Volkswagen venture, paving the way for the joint venture to produce and sell Audi cars. Volkswagen currently gets a larger proportion of the proceeds from the 50-50 tie-up with SAIC than from its 40 percent stake in the venture with FAW. SAIC Volkswagen said in a statement on Friday the plant would cost 17 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) and would make VW and Skoda models as well as Audi cars. It will help VW tap China's fast-growing market for NEVs, a category comprising electric battery cars and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles. ($1 = 6.9314 Chinese yuan renminbi) Reporting by Yilei Sun and Adam JourdanRelated Video: Image Credit: Reuters Green Plants/Manufacturing Audi Volkswagen Skoda Electric Hybrid

Audi Q8 E-Tron could have 370-mile range

Audi technical boss Ulrich Hackenberg has a huge job ahead of him if he's going to add more electrified models his employer's portfolio. Currently, the German company's electrified offerings amount to just the Q5 Hybrid in the US and the A3 E-Tron in Europe, but British auto mag Autocar is claiming that Hackenberg wants to add a Tesla Model X-rivaling electric version of the company's long-rumored Q8 utility vehicle to the plans. That E-Tron model, said to be a high-riding crossover with coupe-like lines, is expected to be Ingolstadt's CUV flagship, positioned just above the Q7 (pictured above).
Autocar further maintains that Q8 E-Tron will borrow its front- and rear-mounted electric motors (good for around 375 horsepower) from the recently revived R8 E-Tron, and the model could be ready as soon as 2017. This sporty CUV is expected to have a much greater range than the two-door electric sports car, however. Figure on about 370 miles thanks to room for extra batteries.
The still-not-confirmed Q8 range is expected to be offered with gasoline, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains, and will ride on the same platform as the Q7, albeit fitted with sleeker styling. Like all of Audi's upper-end offerings, it will make extensive use of aluminum for the body and chassis to keep weight down.

Next Audi R8 to eschew engine downsizing, go on diet instead

Looking across the Audi landscape, many models that used to get the company's high-revving, naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8 are now powered by smaller, yet similarly powerful, forced-induction engines. From what Auto Express is reporting, though, the next-generation Audi R8 will not meet this same fate.
Rather than ditching its V8 and V10 powerplants, the next-gen R8 - expected to debut in 2015 - will shed pounds from its curb weight. The 2014 R8 currently weighs between 3,583 pounds and up to 3,957 pounds, but the report says that engineers are targeting a weight of less than 3,300 pounds. All models will get cylinder deactivation, which along with lower curb weights should help to improve fuel economy and emissions. Head on over to Auto Express for more reported information as well as a handful of renderings that take a stab at how the next R8 may look.