2004 Audi A4 Cabriolet Convertible 2-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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Why Audi is staking its future on electric SUVs

This much we know: SUVs and crossovers sell like hotcakes. The body style has become such a juggernaut that for the first time in recorded history, sport utes beat out sedans this year to score the biggest slice of the luxury pie. Love 'em or hate 'em, SUVs are here to stay, and carmakers are investing more than ever in the segment. Sport utility vehicles also played a bigger role than you might think in making Audi relevant in the US, and based on what we learned during a sit-down with Audi of America president Scott Keogh at the Paris Motor Show, their role is only going to continue to grow at the automaker. Last year, the brand sold 202,202 cars in the States, capping off 60 consecutive months of record sales. But it's not enough to focus on traditional SUVs like the Q5, which was launched on the heels of the global economic meltdown in a tiny small segment of around 160,000 vehicles and has since ballooned to over 400,000 units. The Q5 has scored 80 percent of its buyers from conquest, and a new plant in Puebla, Mexico, promises to churn even more units to the US and the world. Still, tackling the future head-on can be like wrestling an eel – an elusive, almost impossible-to-execute challenge – and Audi is betting a huge part of that success will be the production version of the E-Tron Quattro Concept that debuted last year in Frankfurt. Internally referred to as the C Bev, this battery-powered SUV claims a 311-mile range, and might as well be nicknamed the Tesla Model X Killer. "If you look at where this car migrated from," Keogh says, "it started as a European-ish city car, and then it migrated into a sedan-ish sportback-y type thing, and then we pushed very aggressively to make it an SUV." Keogh says the vehicle will hit showrooms "after 2018." The SUV layout naturally lends itself to batteries, but it also boils down to a simple bureaucratic advantage: "We get [government CO2 and fuel economy] credits for volume," says Keogh. "It's not just enough for a car to be there, it's got to be a car that a lot of people want to buy." Sized between a Q5 and a Q7, the E-Tron Quattro resides in a target-rich environment, a 600,000 - 700,000 unit segment. Add Audi's goals of electrifying 25 percent of its lineup by 2025, and a high volume, medium/large SUV simply makes sense.

Hyundai tops VW and Buick in China, survey says

You may be aware of the long-time competition in China between Volkswagen and Buick, but another brand apparently should be in that conversation too: Hyundai. In a recently published annual consumer survey, the Korean company actually took the top spot to beat out its German and American rivals in second and third, respectively. The results were part of the China Brand Power Index that interviewed 11,500 people around the nation and was paid for by the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. While Hyundai proved popular with voters, its sales haven't necessarily shown that yet. According to Bloomberg, the brand had falling numbers in China for the first quarter of the year. Even Ford outsold the South Korean automaker in the same period, despite scoring lower on the survey. Meanwhile, Audi ranked as the populace's favorite luxury brand, which is hardly a surprise given the Four Rings' strong sales in China. In January alone the automaker saw a 15-percent boost in volume there. Parent company VW's strong performance was somewhat more surprising, though. State media severely criticized the German automaker in March, and customers protested last year for the allegedly poor handling of a recall.

Audi Q7 E-Tron confirmed?

Rumors out of Australia say we'll be seeing a new variant of the Audi Q7 when the next-generation models bows in a few years. Joining the diesel and gas range will be the second production member of Audi's E-Tron family, which was introduced by the R8 E-Tron, but will actually see production in the form of the A3 E-Tron.
Speaking with Audi's managing director in Australia, Andrew Doyle, Car Advice asked what the future held now that the electrified R8 had effectively been shelved. "I don't see it [R8 E-Tron] as a major thing for us. We'll launch [locally] with A3, followed by Q7..."
The new Q7 will share its platform with the Volkswagen Group's two other large SUVs, the Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg. But, as Car Advice is quick to point out, the Porsche and VW variants are slated for arrive next year - the second-generation Q7 won't arrive until 2015. Doyle refused to explain the discrepancy.