Audi: S4 25quattro Special Edition on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi mulling producing version of Quattro showcar, just not sure which one [w/poll]

Head of design for Audi, Wolfgang Egger, has told Auto Express that a reborn Quattro could enter production, but bosses for the company haven't yet decided whether to base it on the Sport Quattro concept that just debuted at this week's Frankfurt Motor Show or the smaller Quattro concept that was revealed at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.
While both draw their inspiration from the original Ur-Quattro of the 1980s, they vary wildly in both size and choice of powertrain. The 2010 Quattro concept was based on Volkswagen's MQB platform, shared with such vehicles as the Golf and Audi A3. The Sport Quattro, meanwhile, was built atop the company's larger MLB platform that's used almost exclusively for Audi models, including the A5, which is also a coupe.
Under their hoods, the 2010 Quattro concept simply employs a version of the same 2.5-liter engine used in the TT RS, tuned to deliver 408 horsepower, while the Sport Quattro goes nuclear with a twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain that develops 700 hp and 590 pound-feet of torque. Both, of course, employ quattro all-wheel drive just like their forebearer.

BMW reclaims US luxury sales crown from Mercedes

The numbers, they are in: BMW has reclaimed the luxury-sales crown from Mercedes by a margin of 9,347 cars. Mercedes donned the king's headgear in 2013 after a strong final quarter of 2013 when the new CLA and S-Class poured out of dealerships. This year, led by the 3 Series/4 Series and X5, BMW sold 339,738 units – a 9.8-percent increase year-on-year. Mercedes, led by the C-Class and M-Class, saw its sales go up by 5.7 percent to 330,391 units. We'll have to wait a bit to see if there's another registrations-vs-sales challenge as in 2012, when BMW was anointed US luxury ruler. Behind them, a dark horse named Lexus nudged closer to the leading Teutons, selling 311,389 cars. The Japanese luxury automaker also had the biggest gain among the top three, its sales rising by 13.7 percent compared to 2013. Audi had the biggest sales of anyone among the top five, though, with a 15.2-percent gain to 182,011, which moved it a spot ahead of Cadillac; the Wreath-and-Crest brand dropped 6.5 percent to 170,750. Acura (167,843), Infiniti (117,300), and Lincoln (94,474) took the final positions. Speaking of Lincoln, sales at the once-mighty luxury marque stand as the mightiest jump of any on this list, up 15.6 percent. That's the power of Matthew McConaughey... and better cars and a new crossover, sure. So now that we're back to Round One of 2015, in case no one else has said it yet: "Ok, fight!"

Audi investing $30.3 billion through 2018 for product expansion

How does Audi plan to reach two million units in annual sales and pay for the 11 new models it's adding to its lineup - an expansion that may include models named SQ2, Q9 and F-Tron? By increasing its investment to 22 billion euros ($30.3 billion US) between now and 2018. That figure represents an increase of about 500 million euros over the previously planned outlay, according to a report by Automotive News, and that could be due to Audi wishing to goad the momentum that pushed it to 1.5 million annual sales two years ahead of schedule.
It's also about staving off the challenges from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Now that BMW has been able to turn some of its attention away from its "i" series of Megacity cars, it will reportedly spend more than planned in 2014 as it continues the rollout of ten all-new vehicles and 15 new-generation vehicles through the end of next year. Mercedes, having been dropped to third in the sales race, is preparing to add 13 new cars over the next six years.
Audi's money is going into technology, into product like the next-generation TT and the Q1 and production expansions and upgrades all over the world. The expenditure represents just under a fourth of Volkswagen's 84.2 billion-euro ($115.7 US) outlay devoted to taking the number-one global automaker title away from General Motors and Toyota by 2018.