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Audi kicks off A3 celebrity-fest marketing campaign with Dues

Audi is desperate to appeal to young people with its new 2015 A3 sedan. It's planning launch parties around the country to present the new model to these younger buyers, and its latest tactic is a series of videos starring celebrities the company considers trailblazers to further captivate youthful buyers.
The advertising campaign starts with a spot titled Dues starring comedian Ricky Gervais, chef David Chang, photo journalist Lynsey Addario, comedian Kristen Schaal, boxer Claressa Shields, artist collective Cyrcle, and church choir Voices of Destiny. It's being followed up with seven, minute-long online documentaries called Uncompromised Portraits about the folks featured in the new ad. Audi believes that they are all trailblazers who have forged their own way, and it's all supposed to fit with the A3's slogan of "Stay Uncompromised."
Dues will play during the NCAA March Madness tournament. Audi is also running two, 30-second commercials during the games to highlight the sedan's technology and two, 15-second ads to promote its Quattro all-wheel-drive system.

2015 Audi A8 rises to meet the challenge [w/video]

It's turnover time in the extra large premium sedan segment. With Mercedes having stuffed HAL 9000 in its new S-Class, other luxury marques are quickly updating their own super sleds to keep up with this persistent march of technology. While far from a full redesign, the Audi A8 has changed enough for 2015 in terms of styling, powertrains and new technology to keep it in the conversation.
For starters, the A8's exterior design has been redone, with the most noticeable changes happening up front. The trademark 'gaping maw' grille is a little less gaping, while the headlights now feature a straight lower edge of LEDs, excising the old model's droopy-eyed look. Speaking of headlights, Audi now offers optional Matrix LEDs, the latest in headlight tech, with 25 individual elements per side that can be turned on or off and dimmed as the situation demands. The rear of the A8 has also been resculpted and looks very much inspired by the derrière of the A7, with a single chrome strip connecting the new LED taillights.
The A8's full suite of powertrains has also been upgraded, with the supercharged 3.0-liter V6 now producing 310 horsepower (up 20 according to Audi, though down 23 compared to the US-spec 2013 model). The twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 is now rated at 435 hp, a solid 20-horse increase that lowers the car's 0-62 time to just 4.5 seconds. That's within spitting distance of the 520-hp S8's time of 4.1 seconds. That aforementioned super sport sedan's engine remains unchanged, as does the 6.3-liter 12-cylinder powerplant in the A8 L W12, but Audi's two diesel engines have both improved, with the 3.0-liter V6 producing an extra eight horsepower (256 total) and the 4.2-liter V8 gaining an extra 34 hp (385 hp) to go along with its more-than-adequate, though unchanged, 626.93 foot-pounds of torque.

BMW says SUVs killed the sports car market

In many ways, we're living in a golden age of automotive performance. After all, it's possible to show up at a Dodge dealer, hand over about $60,000 and storm away with a 707-horsepower Challenger Hellcat. Or for those who prefer a touch more luxury, the BMW M4, Mercedes-AMG C63 and latest Cadillac ATS-V offer between 425 and 503 horsepower, depending on your pick, with a bit more poshness. However, none of these powerful vehicles fit the classic definition of a two-place, droptop sports car, and according BMW head of sales Ian Robertson, that's because the segment is very much in the doldrums.
According to Robertson, two factors seriously wounded the classic sports car market. First, the global economic crisis of a few years ago put a serious hurt on sales, according to Bloomberg. Further worsening the situation, the boom in popularity of luxury SUVs and crossovers in the past few years hasn't allowed for much recovery. Even car-hungry China hasn't helped much because of the smog in many cities and preference among some of the very rich there to be chauffeured.
Combined, Audi TT, BMW Z4 and Mercedes-Benz SLK sales peaked around 114,000 units a year in 2007, but they are only expected to reach 72,000 annually by the end of the decade. Robertson is pretty pessimistic about the market's comeback too. "Post-2008, it just collapsed. I'm not so sure it'll ever fully recover," he said to Bloomberg.