Tag Archives: audi

Audi Hybrids One-Two at Le Mans. Toyotas Crash, Break

Posted on 18 June 2012 by Ken Zino

In a 24 race marred by accidents, two Audi diesel hybrid P1 cars took first and second at the 24 hours of Le Mans, with a another Audi in third. A Toyota-powered Lola took fourth, boldly inserting itself ahead of the fifth place car – another Audi diesel, but not good enough to prevent an all Audi podium. All four Audi R18 cars could have won what became the brand’s eleventh Le Mans victory in front of a claimed 240,000 spectators. Continue reading →

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Audi Hybrid on Pole after First Night of Le Mans Qualifying

Posted on 14 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Last year, Benoît Tréluyer took the first spot on the grid for Audi 30 minutes before the end of the final qualifying session on Thursday night. Audi has so far started from the pole position six times at Le Mans and has won the French endurance classic ten times since 2000. Continue reading →

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Le Mans Test Day – Audi and Toyota Hybrids, Nissan DeltaWing

Posted on 6 June 2012 by Ken Zino

Two new unlimited racecar entrants – Toyota with a pair of TS030 hybrid cars and Nissan with its lightweight DeltaWing – successfully participated in the traditional test day to prepare for the Le Mans 24 Hours on 16-17 June. They were joined on the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans by Audi dieselR18 ultra and R18 e-tron Quattro models, the latter another hybrid design. Missing, sadly was Peugeot, which last year placed four Peugeot 908s in the Top Five finishing list, but whose endurance-racing program fell victim to the Eurozone crisis. Continue reading →

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Volkswagen Group April Sales at 732,000 are Up 6%

Posted on 11 May 2012 by Ken Zino

The Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg today said sales increased for the month of April to 732,000 vehicles. Compared to April 2011 at 690,800, this represented a 6% gain. Year-to-date VW Group sold 2.89 million vehicles for an increase of 8.6% percent (January-April 2011: 2.66 m). Europe’s largest automaker and the Number Two Global automaker behind General Motors outperformed the overall market, which grew by 6% during the year.
Continue reading →

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Audi Buys Italian Motorcycle Maker Ducati

Posted on 18 April 2012 by Ken Zino

Ducati has manufacturing operations at its headquarters in Bologna and in Thailand. It maintains a series of importer companies in strategic markets. Audi said that the motorcycle market will “enjoy strong growth over the next few years,” especially in Asia where Honda dominates. Continue reading →

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Audi Announces U.S. A3 e-tron Electric Vehicle Pilot Program

Posted on 28 February 2012 by Ken Zino

A3 is currently sold to U.S. consumers in gasoline-powered and turbo diesel configurations starting at $28,000 with several thousand dollars in options. The A3 EV – dubbed e-tron – has a 26kWh lithium-ion battery pack and claimed zero driving emissions, if you ignore how the electricity to charge the expensive battery pack is generated. No pricing was given since this is a development not a marketing program. One Audi insider said that eventually an A3 e-tron is “highly likely” here. Continue reading →

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GM Plans Four World Debuts at NAIAS. Where is Bob Lutz?

Posted on 2 December 2011 by Ken Zino

“ATS enters the biggest market segment in the global luxury car industry, both in terms of volume and importance,” said Barra.

No kidding. ATS better be good when it appears next fall.

But when I asked what GM consultant Bob Lutz was doing these days, Barra said she was trading e-mails with him about getting Lutz to drive a new Chevy Sonic, which has been on sale globally for a couple of years. While Barra called Lutz an “automotive rock star,” there was no hint in her brief response that she was spending any time with Lutz. Continue reading →

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Volkswagen Group Posts Q2 Profit of €3.17 Billion

Posted on 28 July 2011 by Ken Zino

However, the outlook is cautiously hedged: “In view of the global economic challenges, we are well advised to maintain our cost and investment discipline and to further improve our financial strength,” said CFO Hans Dieter Pötsch. Continue reading →

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Volkswagen Group Posts Record Sales for First Half of 2011

Posted on 15 July 2011 by Ken Zino

The Volkswagen Group said today that it delivered more vehicles in the first six months of 2011 than eve before. A total of 4.09 million vehicles were delivered from VW, Škoda, Seat, Audi, Bentley and Porsche to customers worldwide from January to June of this year. Continue reading →

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Audi, Nissan, and Chevrolet Corvette Win Le Mans

Posted on 12 June 2011 by Ken Zino

Audi completed 355 laps around the 13.629 km (8.469 mile) circuit for a total of 4838 km (3006 miles). It was the tenth Audi victory at Le Mans, one more than Ferrari. Porsche still holds the factory record with 16. Continue reading →

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Audi R18 TDI on Pole at Le Mans, Peugeot Third in Qualifying

Posted on 10 June 2011 by Ken Zino

The fastest six cars were running within just five tenths of a second – meaningless in the world’s oldest endurance race, but exciting nonetheless. It looks like there will be 24 hours of intense racing for an estimated 250,000 fans, which because if the web millions of people can track real time at home. Continue reading →

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Volkswagen Group Sets Q1 and March Sales Records

Posted on 15 April 2011 by Ken Zino

By posting what was a 13.7% increase Europe’s largest automaker outperformed the overall market, which grew 8.1% based on preliminary Q1 results. Continue reading →

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Audi Prices 2012 A7 Sportback in U.S. Starting at $60,000

Posted on 4 April 2011 by Ken Zino

Audi today announced that pricing for the full size Audi A7 will begin at $59,250 when the models reach U.S. showrooms later this month. At first glance appears to be a hefty price for a V-6 powered, all-wheel-drive 5-door hatchback, … Continue reading →

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