2.0t Quattro on 2040-cars

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Audi fires head of R&D, Wolfgang D"urheimer

According to Car and Driver, citing a report in Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, Audi has fired Wolfgang Dürheimer, the brand's head of research and development.
Dürheimer had originally signed on as Audi's R&D boss in September 2012. Prior to that, he had served as the head for both Bentley and Bugatti, and was formerly the development chief at Porsche (where he is credited with helping get the original Cayenne into production, a move that ushered a new era of profitability for the company). Dürheimer moved to Audi following a management shakeup within the Volkswagen Group in mid-2012.
During his time at Bentley, Dürheimer spearheaded the brand's efforts to launch an SUV. But at Audi, he reportedly quickly put a stop to costly projects such as the R8 E-Tron and the rotary range-extender engine for the A1 E-Tron. Furthermore, Car and Driver reports that Dürheimer shuffled the reporting structure within the brand's design department, and that VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn had apparently disagreed with him several times on the styling direction for the brand.

Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 and our new long-term Acura TLX | Autoblog Podcast #661

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. This week, they talk about the cars they've been driving, including the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 and Audi A4, as well as the recently departed long-term Volvo S60 T8 and the new addition to the long-term fleet, an Acura TLX. In this week's news, they talk about the Stellantis merger completion, some more thoughts about GM at CES, BMW announcing an electric M car, an upcoming electric Lincoln Corsair and the possibility of an electric-only Ford Mustang in 2028. Autoblog Podcast #661 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving:2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 2021 Audi A4 S Line 45 TFSI Quattro 2020 Volvo S60 T8 2021 Acura TLX A-Spec News:Stellantis is a thing now More thoughts on GM at CES BMW announces electric M car is coming this year Electric Lincoln Corsair-E coming in 2026, report says The next-gen Ford Mustang reportedly going all-electric, arriving in 2028 Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Audi following Tesla with 280-mile EV family car

The press days are finished at the LA Auto Show, but things said there are still making news. While in California, Audi technical development chief Ulrich Hackenberg told reporters that his employer plans to release an electric car with a range of 280 miles "around 2017." Hackenberg wouldn't say what kind of car - or crossover, perhaps - it will be, but one report said it would be "a large car, fitting five large people with ample luggage space." Most observers expect it to be a sedan to take on the Tesla Model S. It's no secret that Audi respects Tesla, and there have been hints that The House of Quattro is ready to really flex its progress-through-technology muscles in Tesla's direction. Audi will be applying lessons learned in the development of the coming R8 E-tron to the future electric car, after it managed to double the range of the electric sports car thanks to new battery technology to 450 kilometers, or 281 miles. This puts another tentative all-electric Audi in the mix and another Tesla competitor, after rumors of a possible electric Q8 from February of this year. If an electric Q8 does happen, it's expected to be a challenger to the Tesla Model X. And that might not be all: Bloomberg reported in June that Audi had "devised blueprints for several high-performance electric saloons and sport-utility vehicles." News Source: AutoExpress Audi Technology Electric audi e-tron