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Tuner may sue Monaco hotel for damage caused by valet's injury

It's relatively common to hear about unethical valets taking a joyride and wrecking high-performance cars. However, a recent 'accident' in Monaco might be one of the weirdest cases ever. Of course, now the lawyers may get involved.
Andreas Belzek, owner of tuning firm Prior Design, was driving his highly modified, black with gold pinstripes, widebody Audi R8 (pictured above) to the Hotel de Paris in the famously rich city on the shores of the Mediterranean. Upon arriving, he was going to check in but wanted to park the supercar himself, which was against the hotel's rules. He protested to the valet but eventually gave in and handed over the keys. Then the problems began.
The Audi barely moved before the valet herniated a disk in his back and couldn't leave the car. The police and paramedics arrived to the scene, which had to be quite a crowd in a city as tiny as Monaco. To get the guy out, the rescue crew had to hook him to a special hoist and carry him out, according to Germany's Focus Online. Belzek claims the efforts to save the man caused roughly 10,000 euros ($13,622) in damage to the car's carbon fiber, Alcantara and Nappa leather interior.

Audi CEO announces new electrified car each year starting in 2018

Audi is preparing an aggressive (and possibly desperate) plan to electrify its lineup following the disastrous diesel emissions scandal. CEO Rupert Stadler announced the plan during the company's Annual General Meeting in Ingolstadt. "Starting in 2018, we will launch another electrified car each year," Stadler said. This is easily the most dramatic statement we've heard about electrification since Audi of America President Scott Keogh told Autoblog that one out of every four Audi models will have some kind of plug-in capacity by 2025. This new push for electrics will kick off with Audi's long-awaited all-electric CUV. We've already known about this guy for a while – according to our conversation with Keogh, it will be based on the E-Tron Quattro Concept first shown at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. And earlier this year, Audi even went as far as confirming its Brussels, Belgium factory will screw together the new EV. Speaking of those batteries, Audi expects them to match the 310-mile range promised by the E-Tron Quattro. What we're really eager to see, of course, is what Audi has planned after 2018. Will we get an all-electric A4 to battle the Tesla Model 3? An A7 E-Tron to challenge the Model S? Or will Audi go with a segment Tesla hasn't exploited yet? Expect a few years before we get answers to those questions. Beyond the EV announcement, Stadler also confirmed the next-generation Audi A8 will debut in 2017. The new luxury sedan will be capable of driving itself at speeds up to 37 miles per hour, fitting with previous reports. From there, Stadler expects to "see fully automated driving" by 2025. Related Video:

South Korea to file criminal charges against VW exec

South Korea has tossed out Volkswagen's recall plans and is preparing to level criminal charges over its handling of the diesel emissions catastrophe, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Recall plans the company submitted to us earlier this month were insufficient and lacked key information, and thus are unacceptable," the South Korean Ministry of Environment said in a statement obtained by the WSJ. A ministry official hinted at the possibility of criminal charges earlier this month if VW's recall plan wasn't satisfactory, the Yonhap News Agency reports, and now it looks like it will actually follow through. According to the WSJ, South Korea has already ordered VW to recall 125,000 vehicles and slapped the automaker with a $12.3 million fine – one of the many countries to do so – but if it follows through with criminal charges against the company or its employees, it'd be among the earliest to so. Other countries, including the United States, are still exploring the possibility of criminal charges. Charges would likely come against both Audi Volkswagen Korea and its managing director, Johannes Thammer. It's not clear what the actual charge would be, but the WSJ claims Thammer could be facing up to five years in prison and a fine of 30 million won (around $24,700 at today's rates). For its part, VW officials in South Korea maintains that it is "doing its utmost to resolve the emissions issue" and that it plans to "offer further explanation" to authorities regarding its proposal for an emissions and fuel mileage fix in that country.