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Automakers paying Chinese dealers for lower-than-expected sales

The Chinese dealers vs. foreign manufacturers story won't quit. It began with a story on the struggles faced by FAW-Toyota joint venture dealers, with supposedly 95 percent of the showrooms losing money, and 10 percent of them doing so poorly that they'd have to exit the business. The problem is mandated sales targets, most set when the country's economy was racing. Now that things have slowed, China's dealers are swimming in unsold cars and the costs to keep them. In the case of FAW-Toyota, dealers asked Toyota to hand over 2.2 billion yuan ($355 million) to help address the situation. That was followed by a report noting the issues that Honda, BMW, and Nissan dealers are having with the same issue, revealing that the Chinese Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) had taken the highly unusual step of writing to the Chinese government to complain. Now Reuters reports that CADA is not only pressing its case even harder, it's being open about it: it announced that BMW agreed to pay dealers 5.1 billion yuan ($820 million) to alleviate poor profits last year. Unnamed sources said Audi has thrown 2 billion yuan into the kitty for subsidies, and Daimler has contributed "about 1 billion yuan" to its dealers. The battle isn't just about 2014, but how business will be run in 2015 as well: Chinese Porsche dealers have requested the automaker lower its 2015 target of 64,000 cars, which would be a 40-percent increase on its 2014 sales of 46,931 vehicles. One analyst called it "shocking" that the CADA has taken its fight public, while CADA comments continue to imply that dealers have been railroaded to the cliff's edge without recourse. "Due to the difference in status," it's deputy secretary said, "individual dealers are not willing to, or don't dare to, talk frankly with the carmakers...." Both parties need one another, so they'll figure out a way to make it work – but that could mean acknowledging the Chinese market is behaving more like a mature one, not an emerging one. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Earnings/Financials Audi BMW Porsche Toyota Car Dealers Luxury

Next-gen Audi Q7 to debut in Detroit

Audi's public relations team must really be getting fed up with research and design boss Ulrich Hackenberg. Aside from basically confirming that the next Audi R8 will share its bones with the Lamborghini Huracán and noting that it may take advantage of the Asterion Concept's hybrid powertrain technology, he's now let slip that the second-generation Q7 will arrive in January at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show.
"If you make a trip to Detroit, you'll see it," Hackenberg reportedly told Indian Autos Blog during Paris Motor Show festivities.
That's a bombshell, particularly as we've heard plenty about its potential powertrain technologies, including spy shots of diesel-powered models, plug-in-hybrids, sporty SQ7s and electric turbochargers, but there's been absolutely nothing concrete about when and where the car would debut.

2016 Audi TT Second Drive [w/video]

The original Audi TT is a modern style icon. But having a one-time design hit isn't a recipe for longevity. In order to succeed, you have to bolster style with substance. Thankfully, that's exactly what Audi did with its third-generation TT. Now more than ever, the TT is a proper sports car, and it debuts with a host of new technology. The car still looks good, but it's no longer a one-off masterpiece. Instead, it takes many of the original TT's elements and incorporates new bits of modern detailing. The shape is all TT – the roofline, the wheel arches – even smaller details like the fuel filler cap and exhaust outlets moved closer to the center of the vehicle pay homage to the original car's design. But the new car's face is more angular, more robotic. Park the new R8 next to this TT and the family resemblance is clear. "It's fair to say that the new car hasn't been comprehensively reconceived; it's been comprehensively re-detailed," says associate editor Jonathon Ramsey, who first drove a Euro-spec TT back in September. It's a good move, a way to "keep the icon alive," according to Audi AG exterior designer Dany Garand. But the better news is that the rest of the car is more than just a comprehensively re-detailed machine. Launch a TT coupe from a stop and you'll hit 60 miles per hour in 5.3 seconds. The TT rides on the same modular MQB architecture as the Volkswagen Golf. The whole package is the same length as before, but the wheelbase is stretched by 1.5 inches. At 3,186 pounds, the TT is only 11 pounds heavier than its predecessor, but thanks to new body components, it's 25-percent stiffer than the second generation. We sampled the base TT on the roads of northwest Oregon – that means there's a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four good for 220 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It's the same output as a GTI with the Performance Package in a two-door coupe that's 155 pounds heavier. But stay with us – the magic of Quattro all-wheel drive seriously comes into play here. Launch a TT coupe from a stop and you'll hit 60 miles per hour in 5.3 seconds. Even the TT Roadster is a firecracker, able to do that same 0-60 run in 5.6 seconds. That 220-hp, front-wheel-drive GTI, by comparison, hits 60 in about six seconds flat. We didn't get to drive the TTS, but based on numbers alone, it ought to be a real honey. The S uses the more powerful version of the 2.0T engine from the Golf R, with 292 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. Zero-60: 4.6 seconds.