2012 Audi A4 Premium Plus, Navi, Xenon, S-style, 18" Wheels, Sirius Xm on 2040-cars

Auto blog

New Audi design chief Massimo Frascella shaped cars for Jaguar Land Rover

At the Audi brand, style and design have long been a high priority; think the super sleek and sexy A7 sedan, the Bauhaus-inspired TT coupe, the single-frame grille that instantly identified the marque with its down-the-road graphics. So when the Bavarians install a new head of design, that’s also worth a look. Massimo Frascella is that person, a 52-year-old Italian designer who this summer will succeed Marc Lichte. Lichte ran Audi design since 2014 and will take up a new role within the Volkswagen Group. Frascella, a student at the Istituto d`Arte Applicata & Design in Turin, ignited his career at Stile Bertone, and his resume after that evolves impressively. He subsequently held positions at Ford Motor Company and Kia, and since 2011, Frascella has held senior positions at Jaguar Land Rover. He was responsible for the creation of several models: Discovery Vision Concept (2014), Discovery Sport (2014), Discovery (2016), Velar (2017), Evoque (2019) and Defender. In 2019 he became creative director of Land Rover and in 2020 design director. He was also instrumental in the development of the range of new electric Jaguars that are in the works. “Joining Audi is a very special moment for me,” Frascella said. “I am deeply honored to assume the role of chief creative officer and to guide such a talented team in shaping the future of the brand to new heights of innovation and distinction. I believe in the emotional power of design to inspire, connect, and drive change, and I am here to nurture and promote creativity as the beating heart of our brand.” Looking back a couple of decades, it was one of FrascellaÂ’s predecessors who helped to cement AudiÂ’s reputation in automobile design: Walter de Silva. De Silva was appointed head of Audi design in 2002. From 2007 to 2015, he supervised the design strategy for the entire Volkswagen group, including the TT, the Scirocco, the Passat and the Golf. Not a bad list of achievements, but in a interview several years ago, de Silva said that he considered the 2007 Audi A5 coupe the pinnacle of his automotive design art, citing its “sex appeal, the shape of the lights, the architecture.” Design/Style Audi Jaguar Land Rover Volkswagen Automotive History

Despite EV push, Audi will lead hydrogen for VW Group

The cynics among us will assume that Volkswagen Group would rather not affix its flagship brand name to its main hydrogen fuel-cell efforts in the wake of that German automaker's diesel-emissions scandal. Instead, there's less of a taint in having those efforts led by VWs Audi division. And that's exactly what's going to happen, reportedly. Audi will lead Volkswagen's way towards selling hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to the general public, Automotive News Europe reports, citing comments Audi's new development head Stefan Knirsch recently made at VW headquarters in Germany. That first effort may come in the form of the H-Tron Quattro concept SUV that Audi unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January. That model is slated to have a 373-mile range on a full tank of hydrogen (using the optimistic European driving cycle) and includes a rooftop solar panel that can add 621 miles a year via sun rays. And true to Audi's performance-driving bent, the car will offer up to 282 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, for a 0-62 miles per hour time of under seven seconds. Audi will also look to cut production costs by reducing precious metals such as platinum in fuel-cell stacks. As for plug-in vehicles, Audi said at last November's Los Angeles Auto Show that as much as 25 percent of new Audis will be plug-in vehicles by 2025. A month later, Audi said that the A3 E-Tron, which was launched in Europe in late 2014, was already accounting for a quarter of Audi sales in the Netherlands and Norway. Related Video: Featured Gallery Audi H-Tron Concept View 25 Photos News Source: Automotive News Europe-sub.req. Green Audi Volkswagen SUV Hydrogen Cars

Audi's next S7 spotted sporting Prologue-inspired nose

Our spy photographers caught the next-generation S7 testing at the Nurburgring, and this newest version, while still retaining the S7's hatchback profile, updates it with design cues from the Prologue concept. The front is the most distinctly updated part of the car, and pulls the most from the concept. The grille has been widened and given more defined corners that exaggerate the hexagonal shape. The headlights have been slimmed down and are more in line with the grille. These changes give the front of the new S7 a lower, wider look than its predecessor. Speaking of grilles, we also spot a heat exchanger tucked inside the grille opening on the left corner. We're not sure if this is an intercooler, an additional radiator or perhaps an oil cooler, but clearly something needed a bit more airflow. We don't really have any indications of what powertrain the new version will have, but it will probably have a higher output than the current 450-horsepower S7. Moving around to the back, the much-loved arching hatchback profile drops to a revised tail. The taillights, like the headlights, are more slender than they used to be, and they also appear to have been stretched closer to the center of the rear fascia. The base of the hatchback opening appears to have been widened as well. This doesn't have much of an effect on style, but it should make it easier to load cargo into the S7 and its stablemates. As for when we'll see this new hatch revealed, we're not sure. But this prototype looks close to production-ready, so we could see a debut soon, perhaps sometime next year. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Audi S7 spy photos View 19 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Spy Photos Audi Hatchback Luxury Performance audi s7