2012 Audi A7 Sportback Priced from $60,125 in the USA

Audi has just dropped pricing information for its all-new 2012 A7 Sportback that will begin reaching U.S. showrooms later this month with a starting MSRP of $59,250, not including an $875 destination charge. At launch, the A7 will be offered in the States exclusively with a 3.0-liter TFSI V6 gasoline engine paired to the firm’s quattro all-wheel drive system and an 8-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission.

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VIDEO: 2012 Audi RS3 Chasing RS3 During Monte Carlo Presentation

In March, Audi invited members of the press to test drive the new RS3 Sportback on the roads of the Principality of Monaco. Not surprisingly, some of the journalists filmed their encounter with the smallest and most affordable RS model ever produced by Audi on the twisty mountain roads of the principality. Read more »

Why Lexus Lags Behinds its German Rivals in China’s Luxury Market

For the past eleven years, Lexus has been Numero Uno in U.S. luxury vehicle sales. Not so in China, where Germanic giants BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi lead the pack and Lexus is relegated to a paltry fourth.

One issue is customer service, or rather a level of customer service that fails to differentiate Lexus from its competitors. As business owner and Lexus customer Maggie Lin explains: “Nothing stands out from Lexus's service. I don't feel there's anything special compared with what Audi has been doing. They are more or less the same.”

It’s one of the reasons Lexus’s Chinese arm has sent two of its top managers to the United States to learn how things are done at the brand’s North American operation. According to J.D. Power, Lexus sold just a fifth of market leader Audi’s sales total for 2010. That’s just 49,000 vehicles to the latter’s 236,000. There’s also the issue of consumer tastes.

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Audi Teams up with Renovo Design to Create Wooden Frame Bicycles

Audi is joining a long line of car manufacturers that have reached out to bicycle specialists to create their own range of two wheelers. Being that the brand with the four rings is renowned for the use of aluminum in its cars, you’d expect Audi to employ the lightweight metal on its bicycle series. But that’s not the case as the Ingolstadt automaker teamed up with Renovo Design, a firm famous for its wooden frame bikes. Read more »

Five-Millionth Audi A4 Rolls off the Production Line in Inglostant

Audi's Ingolstadt plant produced on Wednesday the five-millionth A4 model, an Avant station wagon painted in Misano Red. The brand with the four rings started production of the A4 in Ingolstadt in 1994 and since 2007, it has also been building it at Neckarsulm. The A4 Sedan, A4 Avant, A4 allroad quattro, S4 Sedan and S4 Avant are manufactured in Ingolstadt, while the A4 Sedan is built in Neckarsulm in both plants. The A4 range takes up a high proportion of the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm plants' production capacity. Read more »

Two Years the Wiser: Marouane Bembli Retackles his Audi R10 Design Study

Back in November of 2009, then 23yo Swedish industrial design student Marouane Bembli brought us an impressive design study for a proposed halo model for Audi to sit above the R8. With its sharp lines, centralized cockpit and Rolls-Royce Phantom rivalling proportions, the R10 was a pretty if unlikely proposal for a next generation Audi supercar.

Now, two years older and presumably a little wiser, Bembli has once again tackled the R10 in what I call the R10 v2.0. Though the concept of a low roofed, widebody coupe with a mid-mounted V10 remains the same, Bembli’s new-for-2011 R10 features a more aggressive front-end treatment, larger rear view mirrors and cabin windows and the addition of fighter jet-inspire side intakes.

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STaSIS Engineering Launches 710HP Audi R8 V10 in the UK

North American aftermarket specialist STaSIS Engineering has introduced its Challenge Extreme Edition package for the Audi R8 V10 to Britain. Available in the US since 2010, the performance kit includes powertrain, suspension and brake upgrades that transform the R8 V10 into an even more ferocious supercar, capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h [62mph] in 3.1 seconds, 0.6 seconds faster than the stock model.

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VIDEO: A Wonderful Road Trip through Brazil in an Audi R8 Spyder V10

Truth to be said, any journey would be a blast if you were behind the wheel of sports car like the Audi R8 Spyder V10, but we can’t help but applaud the brand with the four rings for this beautiful, 2-minute long clip filmed in remote, untouristy parts of Brazil. Sit back, turn up the volume and enjoy the ride in the video right after the break.

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Audi: 38 Percent of all Models Sold in 2010 were Equipped with Quattro Drive

In 2010, the year that Audi celebrated the 30th anniversary of the quattro, it sold an impressive 437,792 quattro-equipped cars, or about 38 percent of its total production. The brand with the four rings said it sells more all-wheel drive vehicles than any other premium manufacturer in the world.

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Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche Donate €2.5 Million for Japan Earthquake Relief

Volkswagen and Audi today announced that they will donate €1 million ($1.42 million) each for humanitarian aid to the Japanese people affected by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Asian nation on March 11. Porsche also said it will offer €500,000 ($707,000) to assist people affected by the natural disaster. Aside from these contributions, the VW Group has announced the launch of a donation campaign among its employees.

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Report: Porsche Cajun said to Launch in a 3-Door Body Style First, will be Based on the Audi Q5

*The above photo is a rendering from a Teamspeed forum member

New details on Porsche's junior SUV have emerged a day after the company confirmed the Leipzig plant as the production site for the new car. German car magazine AutoBild reported that Porsche will launch the compact SUV in a three-door body style adding that the Cajun will have a sporty character to differentiate it from the Audi Q5.

Porsche originally intended to launch the Cajun as a five-door model, but later decided it would be better to start off with a three-door variant since it doesn't want to affect the sales of the Q5, upon which the Cajun is based.

The Stuttgart automaker also feared that a five-door Cajun might threaten the Cayenne as well, so the company is said to have decided to give its smaller SUV a much more dynamic appearance. However, Porsche did not exclude a five-door version in the near future.

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Audi’s 560HP R8 GT Arrives in the States, Prices Start from $196,800

Audi has announced pricing details for its limited production R8 GT sports car at the launch of sales in the U.S. market. The flagship version of the R8 series is priced at $196,800, compared to $114,200 for the entry-level 4.2-liter V8 model and $149,000 for the standard 5.2-liter V10 variant. Nevertheless, that is considerably less than what a German would pay for the R8 GT in its home market where pricing is set at €193,000 or about US$269,300.

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ABT Sportsline Presents its Tune on the 2012 Audi A6 Sedan

ABT Sportsline has released details on its first tuning operation performed on the latest generation Audi A6. The German aftermarket specialist proposes a series of power upgrades and a fairly cosmetic make up with various aero parts and new alloy wheel options.

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New Audi A6 Commercial is a Magical Ode to Metal Crafting

Audi has aired some great commercials over the years and this latest one is no exception. Called ‘Manipulation’, the ad was created for the 2012 A6 and it touts the premium sedan’s hybrid body structure of steel and aluminum. The commercial translates all this tech talk into visual magic: special effects make the metal easy to model by hand, just like Play-Doh. If only real car making were that easy... Video follows after the jump.Read more »

Carbon Love: Audi R8 Hyper Black Edition by Anderson Germany

Anderson Germany, one of Europe’s lesser known tuning firms, has set their sights on the flagship version of the Audi R8 with the 5.2-liter V10 powerhouse. Named Audi R8 Hyper Black Edition, the tune includes both aesthetic modifications and a few modest performance upgrades.

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Fail: How Not to Park an Audi R8 Spyder

There’s no background story on this costly parking fail, but we can only think of two explanations for why an Audi R8 Spyder would end up in such a tight fit with the concrete pillar. One includes the driver and plenty of alcohol and the other, a team of immature, or for whatever reason annoyed individuals, who wanted to offer a special surprise to the owner of the drop top sports car from Ingolstadt. Read more »

Photo Gallery: Audi RS3 Sportback Takes to the Streets of Monaco

The 408HP A3 Sedan concept may have overshadowed the RS3 Sportback at the Geneva Motor Show, but now Audi has turned its attention to the latter. The brand with the four-ring logo released a new set of photos showing off its 340 horsepower-strong model posing on the streets of Monaco, as the company gets ready to begin shipping the first examples of the hot hatch this spring.

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Audi R8 Commercial: It’s a Good Day for a Drive in the Snow

While the worst of winter may soon be over in the northern hemisphere, carmakers continue to roll out snow-theme advertisements, which proved to be rather popular this season as even Ferrari touted the capabilities of its newest offering, the FF GT, on the snow.

This advertisement comes from Audi, which is an automaker with a long tradition in all-wheel drive models. The German company questions the notion that supercars are only good for the track and for flat, dry roads and not for the “biggest snowstorm in recent memory” showcasing an R8 Coupe having some fun on the snow. Watch the video right after the jump.

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O.CT Brings 420 Ponies to the Audi TT RS Roadster

Need to add a some extra oomph to your Audi TT RS Roadster (or coupe, for that matter)? No worries, there's an army of tuners out there that will most gladly up the performance ante of your car. One of the latest tunes for Ingolstadt's TT RS model comes from O.CT which has developed a sport package that includes an engine kit, suspension upgrades and a set of alloy wheels.

Thanks to a new custom exhaust system, an ECU mod and some fiddling around with the turbo system, O.CT pushes output from 340HP to 450Nm to 420HP and 570Nm. The conversion also includes a KW coilover suspension and a set of lightweight 20-inch alloy wheels.

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Geneva 2011: ABT Carves a 620HP Beast out the Audi R8 V10 Spyder

At last year's Geneva motor show, VW Group specialist ABT unveiled a 600HP version of the Audi R8 V10 Spyder. The German tuning house returned to this year's edition of the Swiss show with an updated tune on Ingolstadt's flagship roadster model featuring 620 ponies and a red and black styling theme.

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