Has anyone been getting wind of the Audi E-Tron? I guess its doing pretty well, implying that the car company is on the right track with 4 cycles amongs other advanced
Audi parts under the hood. Sales aren't too shabby all around either...Here's an article I found in the L.A. Times...
There is plenty of news coming out of the Frankfurt Auto Show this week from Audi. There's the introduction of quite a few new models, including Audi’s latest concept, the Audi e-tron, an oddly spelled electric concept car that looks like something Courrèges would have designed if he worked in the auto and not the fashion industry. It’s a good time to be in the four-circle business. Sales are on the up and some swell new product is in the pipeline.
The e-tron is powered by four electric motors -- one at each wheel -- and produces 313 horsepower and, wait for it, 3,319 pound-feet of torque, giving it a zero-to-60 time of less than 4.8 seconds. Audi says the top speed is limited to 125 mph to prevent a drain on the lithium-ion batteries, but from looks alone, it seems like the e-tron could break the speed of light. Audi also says the car's range is limited to 154 miles, which isn’t enough to get you to Ursa Minor.
The news for Audi out of Germany is good, but stateside, it gets even better. In Audi’s latest U.S. sales report for August, the company said sales rose 26% to achieve its second-best August sales ever and its best month overall since June 2008. This August, Audi sold 8,057 cars and SUVs, up from 6,406 a year earlier. The company also said that it set a sales record for the Audi Q5 crossover and that demand edged up on the Audi Q7 TDI diesel model. With Audi’s premium prices, that it makes us think, what recession?
Why? Audi has embraced newer technology, like supercharged, direct-injection engines for the both the S4 and S5 Cabriolet, to replace the larger, less fuel-efficient and more polluting V-8s from the last models. It also takes a more balanced approach to the design and packaging of its cars, building on its somewhat understated Euro Luxury angle of the last few years. Also, the two models present an interesting cross shop with both Mercedes-Benz and BMW smaller luxury models.
Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer for Audi of America, remarked on how the automotive marketplace had changed: out with over-the-top and in-your-face and in with a more understated and progressive edge. Audi, he explained, was a more fashion-forward brand with a progressive action to stand on. We tend to agree.
