2007 Audi A4 2.0t Quattro on 2040-cars

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Shuffle at Lamborghini sends CEO to Quattro GmbH

A management shakeup in Volkswagen Group's high-performance divisions will make Stephan Winkelmann (above) the new chief executive of Audi's Quattro GmbH on March 15. On the same day, former Scuderia Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali will replace Winkelmann as Lambo's boss. These changes are necessary because current Quattro chief Heinz Hollerweger is retiring. Rumors of these exact shifts cropped up in Italian media in December. Winkelmann began leading Lamborghini in 2005, and he has been at the helm for massive growth at the company. In 2015, the Italian supercar maker delivered a record 3,245 vehicles, and it had just set its previous best of 2,530 units in 2014. His new role at Quattro GmbH puts Winkelmann in charge of Audi's equivalent to M at BMW or AMG at Mercedes-Benz. The division is responsible for the Four Rings' R and RS production models, the Audi Sport customer racing program, and Audi Exclusive customization service. "In the future, the Audi Sport brand is to be positioned more clearly," the company's announcement said, which hints at one of Winkelmann's duties. Domenicali has been closely associated with Lamborghini rival Ferrari during his career and had years of experience within the automaker's racing team. He started in financing at the Prancing Horse in 1991 and moved to business planning for the Scuderia Ferrari F1 squad in 1993. He held many positions there and eventually ascended to the top as team principal in 2008. Domenicali resigned from leadership in 2014 because of the team's poor performance, but Audi quickly snapped him up as its as Vice President New Business. He now gets the reins of one of Italy's premiere supercar makers. Related Video: Stephan Winkelmann to be new CEO of quattro GmbH As of March 15, 2016, Stephan Winkelmann (51) will be the new CEO of quattro GmbH, a 100 percent subsidiary of AUDI AG, which produces and distributes the high performance R and RS models. Winkelmann was President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. since January 1, 2005. Heinz Hollerweger (62), the current Head of quattro GmbH, is to retire after almost 40 years of successful work for Audi. "With his experience from more than eleven years in charge of Lamborghini, Stephan Winkelmann will be a key contributor to the further growth of quattro GmbH," says Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG.

Audi Sport Quattro Concept makes video debut

Audi has stayed quiet about its Sport Quattro Concept since the 700-horsepower, tangerine rocket debuted at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show - a followup to Quattro Concept shown at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. Now, Audi has broken the plug-in hybrid out to give thanks to its Facebook fans, which now number over 100,000 strong (103,123 as of this writing).
As impressive as that number is, it does seem a bit strange that Audi USA's Facebook page has netted 7.3 million likes, 73 times what Audi's global page has received. Of course, we're not complaining about seeing the Sport Quattro Concept in action, and neither should you. Take a look below for the entire video.

Audi SQ7 coming, will have electric turbo

Formula 1 and endurance racing are already harvesting energy from turbos on the track, and now it's apparently time for a similar idea of boosting the efficiency of forced induction to hit the streets in a high-performance, diesel SUV.
In a recent interview with the UK's Autocar, Audi technical boss Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg let the big news slip. "The new Q7 will be available in the market next year but the electric turbo will come a bit later in the Audi SQ7 available in 2016," he said. The e-turbo system was already rumored for the premium SUV but for the standard model, not this just-announced performance version.
Audi has been experimenting with the e-turbo system for a little while, as an electrically driven supercharger. It showed up on the RS5 TDI concept that used a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged diesel V6 plus the electric system to diminish turbo lag. In that application, it provided an impressive 385 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque and an alleged sprint to 62 miles per hour in 4 seconds. Although, Dr. Hackenberg didn't make it clear if this was the exact layout for the SQ7.