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VW Group opens new plant in China

As the top market for the Volkswagen Group, China will be getting plenty of attention in coming years when it comes to vehicle production starting with an all-new plant in Foshan. The new plant celebrated the production of its first car this week - a seventh-gen Volkswagen Golf - but the Audi A3 will also join the line by the end of this year.
With its Foshan plant, Volkswagen is adding 6,500 workers in China as well as 300,000 units of production capacity - a figure that will eventually double. In addition to this growth, by 2018, VW is also planning to boost its workforce from 75,000 to 100,000 in China, an increase that will help rocket production capacity from the current 2.6 million annual units to more than 4 million.

Audi R8 Spyder is latest big New York Auto Show debut

The New York Auto Show hasn't been boring. Highlights so far are the kick ass Mazda MX-5 Miata RF and the new Lincoln Navigator Concept. And now, Audi has added a healthy dose of supercar to the mix with the new R8 Spyder. The headlining stats are familiar, seeing as how they're plucked directly from the new R8 hardtop. The only powertrain option is the 5.2-liter V10 and seven-speed S-Tronic dual-clutch transmission. That engine, as in the hardtop, is good for 540 horsepower and will get this droptop German to 62 miles per hour in just 3.6 seconds (only a tenth of a second off the Coupe's time). The convertible R8 will run all the way up to 197 miles per hour. Audi's release makes no mention of a higher-performance V10 Plus model, which is available on the R8 Coupe. That top-end trim bumps output to 610 ponies and cuts three-tenths of a second off the base hardtop's 3.5-second run to 60. The upside, of course, is unlimited headroom. The new fabric roof can be opened or closed at speeds up to 31 miles per hour, and the operating time is 20 seconds in both directions. The R8 Spyder hasn't exactly been a secret. We've spotted it testing as recently as August, and it was included on a leaked product road map last month with a listed March/April debut. Check back later for a full round of live images from the R8's New York debut. Until then, check out our first images of the new R8 Spyder, available up top. Related Video: New Audi R8 Spyder V10: debut at the New York International Auto Show V10 engine developing 397 kW (540 hp), from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 3.6 seconds New: driving dynamics system with performance mode Audi Space Frame with 50 percent improvement in rigidity 397 kW (540 hp), from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 3.6 seconds, top speed 318 km/h (197.6 mph) – the new Audi R8 Spyder* with V10 naturally aspirated engine merges impressive performance with the allure of open-top driving. Its striking design and high-end technologies demonstrate the concentrated expertise of the premium brand. Audi is unveiling its new open high-performance sports car at the New York International Auto Show 2016. "With its spontaneous throttle response, quick revving-up and inimitable sound, the 5.2 FSI naturally aspirated engine in the new Audi R8 Spyder delivers undiluted emotion," remarked Dr.-Ing. Stefan Knirsch, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development.

Audi readying diesel PHEV models for US and Europe

With the racing pedigree provided by the Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the German king of Le Mans is capitalizing on the connection between its road cars and race cars at every opportunity. Maybe there's an entire range of Le Mans Editions for the automakers diesel-hybrid offerings, with perhaps Tom Kristensen acting as the brand's spokesperson for the technology in Europe. You'd be wrong, though, because despite the R18's overwhelming successes in endurance racing, Audi the road-car manufacturer doesn't offer a single diesel-hybrid production car.
This factoid will hopefully be as short lived as it is disappointing, though, as a diesel-electric is around the corner, according to the brand's tech boss, Ulrich Hackenberg. In fact, it gets better than a mere diesel-hybrid; it will be a plug-in diesel-hybrid, only the second to hit the market, alongside the European-market Volvo V60.
According to Hackenberg, the new tech will be the result of a marriage between the brand's well-received 3.0-liter, TDI V6 with an electric motor. The next-generation Audi Q7 (shown above) will be the initial recipient, confirming previous reports that claimed a PHEV TDI could come to the next-gen CUV. Its MLB architecture, meanwhile, would allow the plug-in-hybrid-diesel powertrain to be fitted easily enough to the A8 luxury sedan. While the new Q7 should hit the market at some point in 2015, it's unclear when the PHEV TDI model could see the light of day.