2009 Audi A4 2.0t Prem Plus Quattro Navigation Back Up Camera Awd 74k Miles on 2040-cars

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Audi A8 and S8 get another video tease

If there was any doubt before about which car(s) Audi recently teased in a video, now we know for sure. Audi has released another teaser video that confirms we'll at least be seeing the 2015 Audi S8 (and very likely the A8 as well) in the near future, but the big surprise is just how soon we'll see the new flagship sedan. We originally expected to see the sedan receive its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but now Audi says that the car will be presented about three weeks before the event on August 21.
How do we know this is the S8? Well, aside from it obviously being a large sedan, the true tell that this is its A8/S8 is the front license plate, which clearly shows "S8" on it - we've been doing this long enough to know that Audi's promotional license plates have the model designation in the plate number. As for other details, Audi's trick Matrix headlights shine through the thin veil in what should be the crown jewel of the sedan's new face. There's a little more than a week to go until the car is unveiled, but for now, check out the video below.

Lexus gets top brand marks from Consumer Reports; Ford, Jeep hit hard

Consumer Reports has released its 2014 Car Brand Report Cards, with Lexus again reigning at the top and doing so with the same industry-topping score of 79 that it registered in last year's Report Cards. This year, the institute credited its lineup for being "usually quiet, comfortable, and fuel-efficient," noting it's the only brand on the list "to achieve an excellent average overall reliability score." The Car Brand Report Cars list is meant to rank the best all-around vehicles based on CR testing and reliability results tallied by subscribers it surveyed. Each brand included must have sufficient test and reliability data for at least three models, a standard which left out 11 marques including Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover and Porsche.
This 2014 Brand Report Cars edition is the first of a new format in which sub-brands have been broken out from their parent brands, with Acura using this year to move up the leaderboard into second place with a score of 75 for its "reliable, well-finished and somewhat sporty models." The top three was rounded out by Audi, climbing from eighth to third by scoring a 74 for "well-crafted interiors, nice handling and good gas mileage." Audi scored highest in the road-test portion, its improved reliability aiding its rise. The top nine was completed by Subaru, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz.
Ford and Jeep weighed in at the other end of the rankings, Jeep taking the lowest overall score in the road tests and hampered by "a mix of spotty reliability." Ford was sunk by reliability issues with its MyFord Touch infotainment system which consumers found troublesome enough to negate its cars earning "solid test scores" for being "very nice to drive." Perhaps the rumored switch from Microsoft to Blackberry's QNX for the next generation SYNC will help them out. Cadillac's score also took a hit for infotainment reasons after it was the leading US brand last year, the CUE system in the XTS dragging Cadillac to the bottom of all General Motors brands.

Audi and Hyundai team up to boost hydrogen fuel cell cars

Hyundai agreed a deal with Audi on Wednesday to collaborate on hydrogen car technology, hoping to boost an energy segment that has lagged behind battery electric vehicles. The South Korean firm wants to increase the sales and acceptance of hydrogen cars, which are propelled by electricity generated by fuel cells but have been held back by a lack of infrastructure and the push for battery electric vehicles by the likes of Tesla. The pair will be able to access each other's intellectual property and share components, including any new parts developed by Audi, which is responsible for hydrogen fuel cell technology in the Volkswagen Group, the world's biggest car seller. Hyundai hopes that the move will create greater demand for vehicles such as its ix35 model and bring down costs to make the technology profitable. "We want to provide to our component suppliers more chance and we want to have competition between component suppliers," Sae Hoon Kim, the head of Hyundai's R&D fuel cell group, told Reuters in an interview in London. "We also want to make them to have competition with other suppliers, and that competition will bring down the cost." Carmakers such as Toyota have touted the benefits of hydrogen vehicles, which take less time to refuel than the recharge times of battery electric cars, but are expensive and suffer from a lack of refuelling stations. Many carmakers are focusing on battery electric vehicles, which can take between half an hour and half a day to recharge, but are increasingly able to use a growing network of charging points. Auto firms are teaming up to share the cost of developing greener technologies to replace combustion engines as regulators around the world crack down on emissions. GM and Honda have a partnership to jointly develop electric vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells that are expected to go on sale in 2020, while BMW is working with Toyota. Kim said that a toughening of European Union carbon emission limits in 2025 would create a need for more hydrogen cars. Hyundai sold 200 such models last year and expects to sell thousands this year, but Kim said profitability was still far off. "100,000 or 300,000 vehicles per year per company, when that comes, I think we can make money," he said. Reporting by Costas PitasRelated Video: Image Credit: Getty Auto News Green Plants/Manufacturing Audi Hyundai Alternative Fuels Future Vehicles Hydrogen Cars